雁屋哲 Manga writer and essayist extraordinaire Tetsu Kariya graduated from prestigious Tokyo University. Kariya was employed with a major advertising agency before making his debut as a manga writer in 1974, when he teamed up with legendary manga artist Ryoichi Ikegami to create Otoko Gumi (Male Gang). The worlds of food and manga were forever changed in 1983 when Kariya, together with artist Akira Hanasaki, created the immensely popular and critically acclaimed Oishinbo.
My favorite chapters were the former-athlete udon makers (love when they bring back previous characters!) being schooled by the old lady who was also able to assert her usefulness, the sumo marriage contest (felt like a fable!), and the kid drinking milk (gotta believe the kid sometimes!)
A couple of stories involving people being a little too overreactive about food, including a brokenhearted woman on suicide watch via starvation, the latter of which felt especially contrived, although the seaweed aspect was interesting.