Japan eating challenges
Link Buffet: December 9, 2008
- Bruno Ruest repeats as Forney (TX) pie eating contest champion and wins a 42 inch plasma TV
- Serious Eats on the mini-burger boom
- Report on the Singapore Vermonster eating contest
- Turkey Eating contest held in Macau. The winner ate 644 grams of a 2.5 kg turkey in 30 minutes
- Paul Barlow has set up a college bowl picking contest group for eaters and fans
- Gal Sone admits to an addiction
Link Buffet: November 24, 2008

- Gallery and video of the 42 inch pizza at Big Lou’s Pizza in San Antonio.
- The Heart Attack Grill segment was televised yesterday on CBS News’ Sunday Morning. I have not been able to track down an online clip.
- Video of an attempt at the Spike’s hot dog record in Boston. An unnamed woman
is stillwas the record co-holder with 14 hot dogs in 90 minutes. - Video of the pie eating contest for the case models on Deal or no Deal last Friday (Another video)
- Jo “Gavonne” Rose has a report on the Firehouse wings contest he competed in.
- Hatsuyo “The Witch” Sugawara eats 6.3 kg of (13.8 lb) of curry in 15 minutes. One of her competitors was the masked “Mr. Oh” who has a blog entry with some pictures from the contest.
update The Spike’s record challenger broke the store record with 15 hot dogs. Congratulations.
2001 “TV Champion” Nathan’s qualifier video
A video of the noodle eating contest held on TV Tokyo’s TV Champion to determine who would win a berth in the 2001 Nathan’s finals is available on youtube. Takeru Kobayashi would win the contest and subsequently make history at Coney Island. Kaz Arai, winner of the 2000 Nathan’s finals, is present at the contest. Kobayashi’s latest blog entry is about Arai.
Link Buffet: November 13, 2008
- Interview with director Josh Camerote about “Swallow Your Pride”
- Female bodybuilder Isabelle Turell has signed with the WLOCE according to WLOCE.com
- Kobayashi does a pudding eating contest to promote the “Angry Kid” DVD release (this might be the first contest in Japan Kobayashi has done since the last Food Battle Club in 2002)
- Central Michigan University wing eating contest report
- Wing Bowl 17 tickets are already for sale on Craigslist even though they have yet to become available to the general public
- Ben & Jerry’s Vermonster eating contest in Singapore December 6
- Austin, TX pizza eating contest Saturday
- Monique Griffin wins a pizza eating contest at Luke Air Force Base
Link Buffet: October 21, 2008
- BeautifulBrian.com has a commentary on the personalities of the top 50 IFOCE members
- Furious Pete is seeking input about a 3 minute eating stunt
- Tonight’s E:60 episode to have footage from the Nashville Krystal qualifier
- Gallery of the recent Washington, DC cupcake eating contest
- Picture of Joey Chestnut at the Edmonton minor league hockey game
- Joey Chestnut to receive a commendation from the San Jose City Council
- Ukrainian salo (pork fat) eating contest
- Brad Sciullo’s Belly Bruiser completion makes the Japanese news
- Gal Sone’s television appearance where she sampled and ranked all the items on Saizeriya’s menu has boosted that restaurant’s business despite the recession
RI pumpkin farm received $10K for US vs. Japan contest
Bloomberg.com has an article about competitive pumpkin growing which says that the Wallace pumpkin farm in Rhode Island received $10,000 from a Japanese game show for hosting a pumpkin eating contest.
Link Buffet: September 30, 2008
- News video from the corny dog contest
- Jill Stoler has a contest report from a Brooklyn wing eating contest won by Will Millender
- MosesNews.com will stop covering competitive eating and offer political commentary and restaurant reviews
- News video from the Nashville Krystal qualifier
- Beautiful Brian has uploaded a song about the Nashville Krystal qualifier called “The Cheater” based The Who’s “The Seeker”
- Clips from Sunday’s Gluttonous King broadcast with Scandinavian subtitles
Nishikawa wins Gluttonous King 2008
R Suzuki has blog entries about the Gluttonous King contest that was televised today on TV Tokyo. Results from the final round:
1. “Doctor” Nishikawa, 33 bowls of noodles in an hour
2. Takuya Yamamoto, 32 bowls
3. Hatsuyo “the Witch” Sugawara, 27 bowls
Nishikawa’s mark breaks the previous record held by the now retired Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota.
(I think Nishikawa is an actual medical doctor like Juris Shibayama but am not 100% sure.)
The Gluttonous King home page has pictures of all the finalists which included Mio “Sakura” Takahashi (5th place) and “Essen” (9th place). Natsuko “Gal” Sone and Tomoko Miyake apparently did not compete.
Link Buffet: September 26, 2008
- Ex-“Monster Garage” star Jesse James (Sanda Bullock’s husband) won a pie-eating contest at the Tennessee Valley Fair. The contest might be seen on James’ Spike TV show
- More on the Japanese version of the MLE video game
- Phillip Jones, who cancelled the University of Iowa 2007 corn eating contest, is fired
- The Bottle Inn, host of the nettle eating championship, will close but its contest might outlast it
- Minnesota State cheese stick eating contest
- $50/hour available for a woman willing to vomit on camera during an eating contest
- Hot dogs at the Philadelphia Phillies ballpark are responsible for a bomb scare The packages of hot dogs were detonated.
Gluttonous King 2008 web page set up
R Suzuki reports that a web page has been set up for this year’s edition of “Gluttonous King”, which will be televised on September 28. Four finalists are listed: Hatsuyo Sugawara, Takuya Yamamoto, Food Battle Club veteran Dr. Nishikawa and a rookie female. The final rounds will take place in Thailand.
Link Buffet: August 24, 2008
- Joey Chestnut no longer listed on IMDB page for Nacho Mountain in actors list
- Connecticut Post article about competitive eating and Ash Creek Saloon rib contest (link fixed, thanks Pat from Moonachie)
- English article and podcast about Czech dumpling contest
- Joey Chestnut to appear at final Battle of the Bone contest
- Short English article about Gal Sone biography
New poll: legitimacy of Japanese TV CE
Recently a television program starring Tomoko Miyake was accused of claiming she ate more than she actually did. The new poll asks how common you think fakery is in televised Japanese competitive eating.
An anonymous account of last year’s pumpkin eating contest in Rhode Island claims additional discrepancies in another program Tomoko Miyake appeared in.
“Evolve: Guts” screen captures
Some captures from the Clinton Station Diner giant burger contest footage at the start of the History Channel’s Evolve: Guts have been attached.
Link Buffet: August 3, 2008
- Jill Stoler reports from the Coney cheeseburger contest, won by Goose Gilbert. The contest will appear in the Discovery Channel documentary, Human Race 3000
- “Evolve: Guts” containing footage from the megaburger eating contest held at Clinton Station Diner will be televised on the History Channel on August 5 at 10 pm eastern
- Olathe, CO sweet corn contest report
- Eating contests every day of the Italian Festival in Ocean Township, NJ (Aug 6-10)
- Blog entry from Kobayashi’s hair dresser about his new blue dye job
- Report on the Osaka Gluttonous King qualifier (no results)
Link Buffet: July 28, 2008
- Val Bromann has a blog entry and gallery from the contest in which Pat Bertoletti, Tim Brown and Patrick Vandam competed against Jimmy John’s sandwich makers (Chicagoist report / preview)
- Dickey’s BBQ finals to be held in Dallas in January 2009. San Antonio and Lynchburg, VA qualifiers have been scheduled for September.
- Furious Pete profile (article scan) in the Toronto Sun (condolences to Pete on the recent loss of his grandparents)
- Columnist responds to Juris Shibayama’s letter
- Sonya Thomas lists her favorite bands (Thanks for the compliment Sonya)
- Don Lerman to judge upcoming cannoli eating contest (Also confirmation that Kevin Lipsitz received the Lifetime Achievement Award)
- Record set at Ballard, WA lutefisk eating contest
- Female division winner has best overall mark at Strasburg, OH Corn Festival
- West Virginia Hot Dog Festival report
- Article about Chris Kenney, 11th place finisher at Bartolini’s meatballs
- Statistics on the Dubuque Conuty Fair’s eating contests
- Preview of Sunday’s dumpling eating contests in Queens, NY
- Blog entry about Seattle doughnut eating contest / Saturday Knights concert
- Vineland, NJ pizza contest August 9, $50 gift certificate first prize
- Report about eating contest held at Nobuyuki “the Giant” Shirota’s restaurant
- Biryani eating contest for Indian familes
- Charlotte Dawson, a judge on Australia’s Next Top Model wins a celebrity meat pie eating contest
Link Buffet: July 20, 2008
- Nathan’s finals gallery
- Lamb’s rib eating contest in California
- Dani’s Pizza qualifier galleries and results (from MissGluttonsBliss)
- Coney Island taco eating contest video
- Octopus ball eating contest in Japan
2003 Kobayashi documentary on youtube

A British documentary from 2003 about Takeru Kobayashi competing in Food Battle Club: The Speed can be viewed on youtube. The video shows Kobayashi lifting weights, practicing at a sushi buffet and training for the 1.5 liter water bottle round, which he would lose to Ken Domon.
Speed drinking video hits 1M views
The video from “Food Battle Club” in which Ken Domon drinks 1.5 liters of water in less than 5 seconds has just exceeded one million views according to YouTube, probably making it the first competitive eating clip to reach that mark. The Kobayashi vs. the bear video is probably the second most viewed competitive eating video with just under 900,000 views currently.
Sugawara wins okonomiyaki eating contest
Mainichi has an English article about Hatsuyo “the Witch” Sugawara’s victory in a women-only okonomiyaki (Japanese pancakes containing vegetables) eating contest in Osaka Wednesday:
Each okonomiyaki weighs one kilogram and measures 30 centimeters in diameter.
Hatsuyo Sugawara, a 44-year-old housewife from Iwate Prefecture, won the contest after eating 5.2 pancakes, and received 550,000 yen in prize money, a solid gold spatula, and the privilege of having the restaurant’s largest okonomiyaki named after her.
Mio “Sakura” Takahashi reports she finished second with a total of 4.7 pancakes.
Contest video
See also msn.co.jp
Video of Gal Sone’s elimination

A video of the end of the last round of the “Gluttonous Queen” competition that Natsuko “Gal” Sone competed in is available on youtube. She missed advancement to the next round by just a few grams of steak.
Gluttonous Queen 2008 coverage
CalorieLab has a paragraph in English about this year’s “Gluttonous Queen” contest won by Hatsuyo Sugawara.
Ameba and J-Cast have articles
R Suzuki has part two of her contest report
The contest page on TV Tokyo’s website now has pictures of all the competitor.
Sugawara wins 2008 Gluttonous Queen
BlogLive reports that Hatsuyo “the witch” Sugawara won the Gluttonous Queen contest televised today, denying Natsuko “Gal” Sone a threepeat in that contest.
R Suzuki has a writeup of the first half of the program.
Gluttonous Queen 2008 web page
TV Tokyo has set up a page about this year’s edition of the “Gluttonous Queen” contest that will be televised on Sunday. Hatsuyo “the Witch” Sugawara is listed as one of the rivals for “Gal” Sone’s crown.
TV Tokyo also has a page with links to all the Gluttonous King / Queen contests since 2005.
AICE vs. Japan burger contest video
A video of the giant burger eating contest for three person teams recorded at the Clinton (NJ) Station Diner on February 2 televised on NTV March 20 can be seen at http://www.veoh.com/videos/v6482620yWdSfN4E The video focuses on the Japanese team consisting of Takuya Yamamoto, Tomoko Miyake and Taku Izumi and the team of Ian Hickman, Elizabeth Canady and Pete Maurizio, but Jill Stoler’s team also makes an appearance. The video also contains footage from a contest for Japanese team members at a Windmill Hot dogs.
Japan vs. AICE burger contest televised March 20
Tomoko Miyake reports that the team burger eating contest held at the Clinton Station Diner on Super Bowl weekend will be televised on March 20. The contest will be televised by NNN news, which usually posts its competitive eating videos online.
In other Japanese contest news, R Suzuki reports that Hatsuyo Sugawara won a televised sushi eating contest. The top 5 in that contest:
1. Hatsuyo Sugawara, 107 plates
2. Takuya Yamamoto, 104 plates
3. Nobuyuki Shirota, 102 plates
4. Tomoko Miyake, 81 plates
5. Taku “Artist” Izumi, 74 plates

