Kiccho

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Kiccho (jpn: 吉兆) is a Kaiseki or Japanese haute cuisine restaurant chain group and one of most famous ones in Japan. It was founded by Teiichi Yuki in 1930 in Osaka and today runs restaurants in Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, Fukuoka and Tokyo [1][2]. Kiccho means "good sign of fortune" in Japanese.

Today the Kiccho group consists of five companies, whose headquarters are located in Osaka, Kobe, Kyoto and Tokyo respectively. Among the restaurants they run, the ones in Koraibashi (Osaka), Arashiyama (Kyoto) and Ginza (Tokyo) are especially well known.

Many politician, business people and artists are known as frequent users as well as tea ceremony masters. As a Kaiseki restaurant, catering for the tea ceremony is one of its major services. A lunch in Koraibashi restaurant costs roughly $300+, a dinner $400+, per person. People without introduction from its existing customer are not accepted. [3]

The founder Teiichi Yuki was also known as an expert in the tea ceremony and a great collector of tea utensils, not only dishes for Kaiseki cuisine. He wrote many books about cuisine and tea ceremony. In 1987 Teiichi Yuki opened the Yuki Museum in Osaka, in the Hiranocho neighborhood, near to the Koraibashi restaurant. Yuki Museum is a small museum but known with its good collection mainly of tea utensils, including 11 Important Cultural Properties