Takeru "Tsunami" Kobayashi (小林 尊, Kobayashi Takeru; born March 15, 1978) is a Japanese former competitive eater. Described as "the godfather of competitive eating", he is a six-time Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest champion and widely credited with popularizing the sport.
Born in Nagano, Japan, he won the 2000 Japanese variety show TV Champion Gluttony Championship by eating 16 bowls of ramen in 1 hour in the final. Also competing in the popular TV show Food Battle Club, he went on to win the final round of several stages, besting his mentor and previous champion. This resulted in a frenzy of fame for him in Japan and Asia before he appeared in the United States.
Kobayashi set his first world record in western culture in his rookie appearance on July 4, 2001, when he ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes at the Nathan's Coney Island Hot Dog Eating Contest, almost doubling the previous record of 25+1⁄8. The record was so unexpected that the organizers ran out of signs indicating how many hot dogs Kobayashi had eaten and had to resort to handwritten signs. He would go on to break his own record three times in winning the contest 6 consecutive times (2001–2006).
Kobayashi is known for having created the "Solomon Method" of separating the hot dog from the bun then breaking it in half, while eating the dogs, then dunking the buns in water to wash the dogs down quickly. As this method became the basis to the competition for all the competitors, it also became apparent amongst the eaters, that Kobayashi's main opponent would dunk their own buns into the water while dissolving them, allowing his opponent to cheat. This later resulted in Kobayashi changing his own dunking technique and refusing to eat at any further hot dog competitions unless agreeing to a "No Dunking Rule". After much controversy between Kobayashi and the abuse he sustained from Major League Eating, he left the competition altogether to compete in a new taco competition called The Gringo Bandito Taco Eating Challenge, sponsored by Dexter Holland from The Offspring. Kobayashi went on to be the undefeated champion for nine years, his best score being 159 tacos in 10 minutes, until 2018 when the competition came to an end.
In the 2006 Krystal Square Off, Kobayashi's mark of 97 hamburgers was 30 better than his winning total in 2005 and 28 better than the world record he set in 2004.
At a speed-eating contest in Hong Kong on August 13, 2005, Kobayashi consumed 83 vegetarian jiaozi dumplings in 8 minutes. The next day, he ate 100 roasted pork buns in 12 minutes. Kobayashi also won the 2005 Alka-Seltzer US Open of Competitive Eating, a three-hour International Federation of Competitive Eating (IFOCE), elimination tournament on ESPN, as well as the Glutton Bowl, a two-hour IFOCE eating special that aired on the Fox Network in 2002. On Fox's 2003 show Man vs. Beast, Kobayashi lost in an eating competition against a 1089-pound (494 kg) Kodiak bear, when he ate 31 bunless hot dogs in 2 minutes and 36 seconds to the bear's 50. In a 2014 interview, Kobayashi claims to have beaten the bear in the rehearsal. On August 5, 2006, Kobayashi set yet another world record at the Johnsonville World Bratwurst Eating Championship in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, by downing 58 bratwurst sausages in 10 minutes, shattering the previous record of 35 set the previous year by Sonya Thomas. On September 23, 2006, Takeru Kobayashi set the world record at the Phantom Food Festival in Boston, for eating 41 Summer Shack lobster rolls in 10 minutes, replacing the previous record of 22 rolls. Other world-eating records held by Kobayashi include 17.7 pounds (8.0 kg) of cow brains in 15 minutes and 20 pounds (9.1 kg) of rice balls in 30 minutes.
On June 25, 2007, Kobayashi announced on his blog that he seriously injured his jaw during training. He stated that he could only open his jaw about the width of a fingertip. Kobayashi's participation in the July 4, 2007, Nathan's contest continued as scheduled. He was able to eat a personal record 63 hot dogs, though his mark was bettered by Joey Chestnut's 66.
On July 4, 2008, Kobayashi once again competed in the Nathan's contest. He ate 59 hot dogs, tying Chestnut, but lost a sudden death five dog eat off to finish second. This was controversial, as the five dog eat off was decided at the spur of the moment, and had not been an official rule previously, to decide a winner in the circumstance of a tie.
Kobayashi went on to defeat Joey Chestnut, on May 31, 2009, in a Pizza Hut P'Zone competition at Sony Studios in Culver City, California. The competition aired on Spike TV on June 21. In July 2009, Kobayashi visited Puerto Rico in a special appearance for Taco Bell's Why Pay More Challenge, eating 64 tacos in 15 minutes for a local charity. On July 4, 2009, he competed again in the Nathan's contest. He ate 64.5 hot dogs to Joey Chestnut's 68. On September 27, 2009, Kobayashi defeated Chestnut with a score of 93 (68 Krystals, 5 Big Angus Burgers), earning the $20,000 top prize. Chestnut was second, with 81, and Pat "Deep Dish" Bertoletti finished third, with 76.
On July 4, 2011, Kobayashi competed on the rooftop of a Manhattan bar simultaneously with the Nathan's Contest at Coney Island via a live video simulcast of the event. Kobayashi finished 69 hot dogs, one more than the officially recognized world record at the time.
On January 23, 2012. Kobayashi went on The Wendy Williams Show to set the record for eating the most Twinkies in one minute, for the "Save The Twinkie" campaign, and set a new world record of 14 Twinkies. On February 3, 2012, Kobayashi set the new Wing Bowl record for eating chicken wings at Wing Bowl XX, held at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia. His total was 337 wings in his first competition in that event. On August 26, 2012, Kobayashi set the new world record at the New York State Fair in Syracuse for eating 110 hot dogs in 10 minutes. In October 2012, Kobayashi set the new world record at the State Fair of Texas for eating 60 hot dogs in 2 minutes 35 seconds. On June 30, 2012, Kobayashi revealed the terms of the Major League Eating (MLE) contract he was required to sign in order to compete in Nathan's Fourth of July hot dog eating competition. The year-long contract limited him to $40,000 and took away any rights to endorse or engage in anything outside of what MLE mandated. On July 4, 2012, Kobayashi competed in the Crif Dog Classic. He ate 58.5 hot dogs and buns. On October 11, 2012, Kobayashi set the new world record at the Gringo Bandito Taco Challenge by eating 106 tacos in 10 minutes
On July 21, 2013, Kobayashi defended his title at the Gringo Bandito Taco Challenge. On October 6, 2013, Kobayashi won "LET 'EM EAT" Canada's biggest pizza eating contest for the fourth year in a row.
On August 4, 2014, Kobayashi set the new world record at "LET 'EM EAT" Canada's biggest pizza eating contest by eating 62 slices of pizza (15 and a half pizzas) in 12 minutes.
In May 2024, Kobayashi announced his retirement from competitive eating, citing long-term health concerns including damage to his digestive system and loss of the ability to fully taste and smell food.
Although he had announced his retirement earlier in 2024, Kobayashi agreed to return for the Netflix live event Unfinished Beef against Joey Chestnut in September 2024, stating that he wanted their long-standing rivalry to be resolved on a global stage.
Kobayashi competed against Joey Chestnut in September 2024 in a live-streamed Netflix event titled "Chestnut vs. Kobayashi: Unfinished Beef". Chestnut defeated Kobayashi, eating 83 hot dogs in 10 minutes. Kobayashi ate 66 hot dogs, breaking his personal best that he set in 2009 at the Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest.
Nathan's Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest results
Kobayashi expands his stomach for a competition by eating larger and larger amounts of food, and then exercises to ensure that fat will not impede expansion of his stomach during a competition. His official web site gives his height as 173 cm (68 in) and his weight as 58 kg (128 lb). As of July 4, 2009, Kobayashi weighed in at 60 kg (132 lb) for the annual 4th of July hot dog eating competition on Coney Island. Kobayashi is also known for his trademark body wiggle, referred to by some as the "Kobayashi Shake", to force food down his esophagus and settle more compactly in his stomach. He eats hot dogs by splitting the frankfurter in half, dipping the buns in water, and then stuffing both parts in his mouth. He calls this the Solomon Method.