On November 20th, TV Tokyo announced that it will broadcast the drama "Kodoku no Gourmet 2025 New Year's Eve Special (working title)" from 9:55 pm to 11:30 pm on December 31st. This will mark the ninth consecutive year that a special version of the popular TV drama "Kodoku no Gourmet," starring Yutaka Matsushige, will be broadcast on New Year's Eve.
"Kodoku no Gourmet" is a popular gourmet documentary drama in which the main character, Goro Inogashira, an import goods merchant played by Matsushige, "eats freely" at restaurants he finds during his business trips. In January of this year, the feature film " Kodoku no Gourmet," which Matsushige himself directed and wrote, was released and became a hit, grossing over 1 billion yen at the domestic box office. It was also released in Korea and other Asian countries.
Last year's "Kodoku no Gourmet 2024 New Year's Eve Special: From the Pacific Ocean to the Sea of Japan, Goro Heads North to Find Those People" saw Goro travel from Yokohama to Nagano and then to Noto in Ishikawa, but what kind of story will unfold this year?
The released synopsis reads, "The deadline is approaching! The yellow light is on again this year! Goro is tasked (with an impossible task) with collecting certain ingredients to be distributed at a New Year's Eve event, and he travels around eastern Japan with his little companion. What places will he visit, what people will he encounter, and what exquisite gourmet food will he encounter on this unusual journey at the end of the year, which has become an annual tradition?"
Furthermore, this year will also see the first partial live broadcast in about five years. Partial live broadcasts have been attempted three times in the past, including at Naritasan in 2017, Katsushika Shibamata in 2018, and launching fireworks into the night sky of Yokosuka in 2020, but attention is focused on where this year's broadcast will take place.
It has also been announced that a figure of Goro Inogashira from the feature film " The Kodoku no Gourmet" will be released in September 2026. It will be sold as "figma Goro Inogashira Matsushige Yutaka ver. Renewal Edition Nostalgic Diner Set/Midwinter Full Stomach Set" (height 165mm) on TV Tokyo Honpo's website, at the Tokyo Station store, and at the Good Smile Company official shop. Pre-orders will begin at noon on November 21st.
