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Chef Nagoya is an old friend of Chef Kawasaki's from cooking school, who also studied under Chef Shiitake. He appeared in Dream Land to Kawasaki's delight, but their happy reunion is cut short, however, as Nagoya eventually realizes that Kawasaki's cooking skills are still sorely lacking. King Dedede decides to have the two face each other in a cooking contest- and the winner gets to keep Kawasaki's restaurant.
After Escargoon sabotages Kawasaki's efforts (and the monster Ebifryer attacks) Nagoya realizes he was always trying to make Kawasaki cook the way Nagoya wanted him to, instead of his own thing, so they make up.
Chef Nagoya is voiced by radio personality and singer-songwriter Norio Tsuboi in Japanese and veteran voice actor Jimmy Zoppi in the English dub.
Physical Appearance
Nagoya with his eyes open
Chef Nagoya looks a lot like his friend Kawasaki, save for the pale white skin, often-closed eyes, and whiskers on his face. Nagoya wears red Chinese clothing with blue outlines, has light green hair, and wears a red beret. He wears brown shoes, a blue apron, and a green ribbon around his waist.
Trivia
- The word "Nagoya" originates from Nagoya city, Aichi in Japan. Miso noodle stew (Misonikomi Udon in Japanese), Miso Katsu and Kishimen noodles are local specialties in Nagoya. Also, the word "Kawasaki" in Chef Kawasaki's name refers to Kawasaki city, Kanagawa in Japan, which is known for its motorcycle production. He was named after the motorcycles as revealed in one of Masahiro Sakurai's tweets from his Twitter account.[citation needed] Lastly, the word "Oosaka" in Chef Oosaka (Chef Shiitake in English) refers to Oosaka city, in Japan.
- Nagoya's name is similar to that of the Animal Friend Nago in Kirby's Dream Land 3. Nagoya has whiskers like Nago, and has very similar eyes.