Q : When you were in high school, a girl gave you a lunch box to eat. When did you start to realize that you were a big eater, and when did you decide that you wanted to participate in an eating competition?

Takeru Kobayashi : Ever since I was in kindergarten, I thought I could eat better than the average child. But when I entered university, I tried the food challenge at a curry chain restaurant and succeeded while all my friends failed, so I thought I might have a special talent.

At that moment, I was unaware of how much I could consume if I exceeded my limit. As a result, my girlfriend suggested that I apply for a TV show, and upon my success on the show, I believed that I could continue competing.

Q : Although your father encouraged you to participate in other sports, he also insisted that you strive for excellence. I have heard that your father’s influence played a significant role in your decision to pursue this field.

Takeru Kobayashi : Throughout my childhood, I had the habit of giving in when I was about to win, including when I was running at the Field Day(It’s called Undou-kai in Japanese) in elementary school.  When I was a child, I used to give in because I thought it was wrong to beat someone else, but My father always told me, “Just do whatever you have to do, work hard, and become the best,” and that has stayed with me ever since I was a child. So my father had a strong influence on me.

Q : And then you went on to compete in and win the TV Champion of Food Battle Club tournaments, but when did you start looking overseas?

Takeru Kobayashi : At the 2000 contest, I met defending champion Kazutoyo Arai (who won the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2000), which gave me a sense of what America would be like, So I decided to attend.

Q : In what way was the media attention at that time different before the 2001 contest? 

Takeru Kobayashi : To be honest, I didn’t really feel how things changed throughout the year since I only participated in one contest each year at that time, but I did feel that the attention to the contest was gradually increasing and that I was getting more and more work in the U.S. and news about me was spreading, even though I lived in Japan back then. I guess it was all happening little by little. But the news after my first Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest in 2001 was huge. Because I doubled my record, every newspaper in New York introduced me in the articles. 

Q ：Since that time, I had a strong impression that various media covered the event. Up until then, the competitions were more like contests, but after you participated, I think people’s perception of the event as a sport changed to some extent. Then, with the addition of ESPN and other TV programs, I think the TV programs themselves changed in terms of the eating contests as sports. Did you feel the change back then?

Takeru Kobayashi : Yes, I felt that the big eating contest was gradually recognized as a sport, and the number of people who enjoy watching it increased. When I was interviewed after winning the championship, I was asked why I ate so much, so I kept telling people that I prepared for the competition as a sport. So, in the course of those six consecutive championships, I kept saying that it was always a sport, so when ESPN came on the air a few years later, I began to think that even those who had been saying that it was not a sport might change their minds a little bit. 

Q : By considering this as a sport, you then faced (Mr. Kobayashi’s) rival, Joey Chestnut, who came into the picture. How was his presence in this sport that inspired your ambition to improve eating skills? 

Takeru Kobayashi: Well, the most difficult part of winning consecutive championships was that I had to fight against myself. My own record is almost twice that of other competitors, so I can win without pushing myself too hard back then. I thought that if I didn’t have motivation or competition, the appeal of the competition would diminish. When I did it on my own, some people thought Kobayashi was different or had a unique physique. However, when someone like me who eats as much as I do comes out, there is no excuse for other players, and everyone’s level rises, and I think it was a very big thing.

Q: What was your first impression of Joey Chestnut? How did you feel after competing in your first tournament?

Takeru Kobayashi : Well, to be honest, when we were on the same stage in the first competition, I was a long way from him. So, I was completely unaware of it. His record was approximately 30 hot dogs, and he finished in third place. Until I broke the world record of 25, I believed that if he ate 30 in his first year, he would have a lot of room to grow. I was unable to observe his eating, so I had no idea what he was doing.

©Courtesy of Netflix 

Q : What training did you do beforehand to prepare for the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest?

Takeru Kobayashi: Generally, in the past, it would have taken two months for training, but now it takes about three months. However, I will take that time to gradually increase the capacity of our stomach by drinking a lot of water before the competition. When the time of the competition comes, the amount of water I drink will increase, so when that (stomach)flexibility is sufficiently increased, I simulate it with the food we will eat at the competition at the same time. If the competition is hotdogs, I’ll try hotdogs…,

Q: Can you eat a variety of foods, or if it’s a hot dog convention, is it just hot dogs?

Takeru Kobayashi: When it’s a hot dog, it’s a hot dog, because eating is for improving technique, and when it’s time to increase stomach capacity, it’s water, so it depends on the competition.

Q: One thing I was curious about is that you mentioned before that it’s not about taste, I was wondering what kind of mental approach did you take before the competition? Was your mental state always unwavering before the tournament?

Takeru Kobayashi : I struggled with preparing from my mind, and that remains the case today. I have a hard time motivating myself when I first start training before a competition.  However, as I continue to train, my body gradually becomes prepared, and I begin to feel more motivated. I gradually increase the amount of water I drink, and at first I experience pain in my stomach, but as time goes by, the pain diminishes. The volume of water gradually increases. During this period, I made changes to my lifestyle, which included not going out with friends and drinking alcohol as much, and staying in my room more often.

Q : Aren’t you always careful about the condition of your work?

Takeru Kobayashi : If I can’t create my own pace or environment, I get stressed out, so I go into my own world or something similar during that time.

Q : After you participated in the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, the rules of the contest were changed(In 2007, the year that Kobayashi lost to Chestnut) and the contest time was changed from 12 minutes to 10 minutes. How did you prepare and respond to the sudden change in the amount of water that you can drink in the contest? After all, you need to drink a certain amount of water in order to compete, and if you are forced to cram in 10 minutes, your life may be in danger, I heard that there was a person died in the eating competition in Japan, so people in charge of the tournament have to take care of themselves to some extent. How did you yourself manage and take care of yourself in this area?

Takeru Kobayashi : I don’t know… I heard about the shortened time really last minute, so I didn’t have much time to prepare. I heard about it from other competitors on the day of the competition, so there was no way for me to be careful. My focus was on my record and the importance of winning, not my body, so I was pondering ways to achieve my goal while eating in a different way, given the sudden 2-minute reduction and other changes in the rules.

Q : I was wondering, after you participated in the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, you signed a contract (Major League Eating = MLE), did this mean that you can only participate in the United States competitions? 

Takeru Kobayashi : It has changed. The first few years I competed in Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, I didn’t have a contract. Then I was told that I had to sign a contract with Major League Eating (MLE) to compete. The Contract is getting tougher and tougher. My last  Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest was in 2009, maybe 2006 or so, and it has become increasingly difficult to do so in other countries, such as Canada and the U.S with this contract. 

©Courtesy of Netflix 

Q: Does that contract mean you can’t even participate in Japanese competitions?

Takeru Kobayashi: Competing in Japan was fine, yes. What can I say…because what they were demanding was that I become exclusive with them.（In 2010)  So, in order to get into one hot dog competition, I had to sign a contract with an agent. So, to put it another way, they would say, ”no, you can go to any competition”, but the reality is only if they say it’s okay.

They will be the agent, so it doesn’t matter what you get out of it, but they have to give the OK as the agent. They include the agent and money management. So, there were a lot of details written down, but if I did that, I would not be able to do my own activities in the U.S. So, I would like to be involved with them for matches (tournaments), but I also want to participate in various tournaments as well. 

So I told them that I came to the US to test my potential and that this contract was very strict, but once you signed that I was in the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, and now they said I can’t go on TV with holding the hot dog, I can’t be taken pictures with hot dog, I can’t eat it at Against the Clock competition, I can’t eat it at Against Animals competition. In short, the list of things I couldn’t do was so long that I ended up not being able to do anything at all. (So, he left this contract in 2010)

Q : That’s a little terrible…

Takeru Kobayashi: So I felt that it was power. The more we got closer to the contest, the stricter the contract became. I thought I would get a lawyer and settle a little bit, but instead they were getting tougher, so I thought they were showing their power. I felt that if I left this contest, I had nothing left, and I had no choice but to sign here. 

Kobayashi’s wife, Maggie : They said he won’t be able to work in the U.S. anymore…

Takeru Kobayashi: Yes, so in fact, regarding visas, since they were initially the visa sponsor, they told me at first that I had to listen to what we said, no matter what the contract was.　I tried to get the visa secretly without them.  Then I got an e-mail from them threatening me that they would not let me get a visa.

Q : Did you get the Visa then? 

Takeru Kobayashi: Yes, yes, I got a visa separate from them and negotiated, I was active.

Q :  That is still terrible, isn’t it?

Takeru Kobayashi: I really felt their power. But even if I could work in the U.S. by listening to them, it would not be what I wanted to do, so I took a risk and entered the competition. If I could have had another discussion with them after I left, if the conditions were good, there might have been a win-win situation. But their attitude had not changed over the years, so why should I care if they don’t change when I leave? But when I thought about whether I wanted to go out or not, I chose to go out, and now I’m here as I am, right?

Q : Well, thanks to you, this Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest itself has achieved the status it has today, and I can’t believe that they were taking the opposite position when you should be giving all kinds of preferential treatment. I can’t believe it. You should insist on this…

Takeru Kobayashi : I had just arrived in the U.S. back then and didn’t know how to get involved, so I think I was taken in by their pace on the other side. Also, when I first came to the U.S., the first competition I worked with or entered was the Nathan’s Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest, and after that I entered some competitions through them, so I didn’t really understand American culture much back then.  So I had a feeling that this was the way it was supposed to be, and I gradually began to feel that it was not quite right. But at that time, the other side already had more power.

Q :  Lastly, I would like to ask you about the big difference between the events when you started and the current ones, and how you approach the events. What are the differences from your point of view, and what is your policy in these events?

Takeru Kobayashi : In my opinion, the players’ mentality has undergone a significant change. Before, the people watching the show enjoyed it more like a freak show. It resembled an event at Coney Island where people laughed and had a good time, but now the athletes are preparing and trying to win. It was an extension of the past diet where athletes themselves would prepare for the event and try to win. They didn’t just say “I’m a big eater” or “I eat too much too fast,” but they started preparing for the event themselves. But at some point the players themselves decided to prepare and win, It’s not that I’m a big eater, but that they’ve started to prepare for competitions by themself, and the number of people who prepare for competitions like athletes has increased.

In the past, there were almost no people who felt this way, but now there are people who do, and I think that is a big part of it. As for my own involvement, I participate in tournaments much less now, but it is more like a part of my lifestyle than it used to be. I had to change a lot from my normal life to prepare for competitions during those years, so I push myself and set goals and work toward them, and I can see myself growing.

©Courtesy of Netflix 

If you like the interview, share your thoughts below!

Check out more of Nobuhiro’s articles. 

Here’s the trailer of the film.