Toshio Tanahashi

Toshio Tanahashi is a Zen Buddhist monk, who, at the age of 27, decided to serve as an apprentice at the Gesshinji Temple in Shiga prefecture, near Kyoto. A nunnery famous for its abbess Murase Myodo’s excellent Shojin cooking, he trained there for three years. He had a restaurant in Tokyo for many years, but now he dedicates his time to educating people about shojin-ryori through his culinary institute Zecoow. Toshio travels widely around the world talking about shojin-ryori and has been featured in English-language newspapers such as the New York Times.

Here is a TED talk that Toshio gave in Tokyo in 2014:

Toshio has also written several books (in Japanese) on shojin cuisine.