Press & Media Kit

Otogo Newsroom

Everything you need to write about Otogo, in one place — boilerplate, fast facts, founder bio, imagery, and a direct line to us. For interviews, fact-checks, or high-res photography, just email.

The art of eating to live.

About Otogo

Approved boilerplate — please feel free to copy and paste.

Full (≈ 90 words)

Otogo is a Sydney-born Japanese fast-food brand serving warm, additive-free onigiri, cup soba, and karaage — made fresh and handed over in about 90 seconds. Founded by Mitsuhiro Yashio, a chef of 27 years trained in sushi and Kyoto kaiseki, Otogo brings hand-formed onigiri and kaiseki-grade Kyoto dashi to everyday, affordable prices. Its guiding idea is Ishoku Dougen (医食同源) — the centuries-old Japanese principle that food and medicine come from the same source. Otogo's mission is to make eating well the easy, everyday choice. The art of eating to live.

Short (≈ 35 words)

Otogo serves warm, additive-free Japanese fast food in Sydney — onigiri, cup soba, and karaage, made fresh in about 90 seconds. Founded by 27-year chef Mitsuhiro Yashio on the principle of Ishoku Dougen: food and medicine from the same source.

Fast facts

Founded: 2023, Sydney
Legal entity: Otogo Pty Ltd (ACN 134 725 214)
Founder & CEO: Mitsuhiro Yashio
Category: Japanese quick-service — onigiri, cup soba, karaage, ochazuke, craft drinks
Flagship: Town Hall — Ground Floor, 303 Pitt Street, Sydney NSW 2000 (CBD)
Original store: Ultimo — 56–58 Bay Street, Ultimo NSW (our first shop, now the test & R&D kitchen)
Signature: Kyoto dashi · additive-free · the 90-second kitchen
Price: Onigiri from $3.90 · soba from $10.50 · sets from $10.90
Recognition: Featured in Good Food (Sydney Morning Herald) · #1 for “onigiri Sydney” on Google · 4.8★ average rating
Website: onigiri-to-go.com

As seen in

“This serene onigiri spot brought its range of perfectly formed rice balls from Ultimo to the CBD. Enjoy onigiri such as classic tuna mayo and teriyaki duck… perfect for grab and go. Soba noodles… with toppings such as karaage chicken curry or spicy pork.”

— Good Food, Sydney Morning Herald

The founder

Mitsuhiro Yashio

Founder & CEO

Mitsuhiro Yashio is a chef of 27 years. Born on Tanegashima, in southern Japan, in 1979, he trained for five years in sushi (Tanegashima and Osaka) and five years in Kyoto kaiseki, then moved to Sydney in 2007, where he ran restaurants for 16 years.

In 2023 he founded Otogo to bring the discipline of Japanese fine dining — Kyoto dashi, additive-free cooking — to everyday, affordable food. His guiding idea is Ishoku Dougen: food and medicine come from the same source.

Founder portrait and additional photography available on request — see contact below.

Story angles

A few directions worth telling — open any one for the full angle.

A $3.90 onigiri from a kaiseki chef

A chef of 27 years — five in sushi, five in Kyoto kaiseki — putting fine-dining Kyoto dashi into fast-food-priced rice balls.

Mitsuhiro Yashio trained in sushi (Tanegashima and Osaka) and Kyoto kaiseki, then ran Sydney restaurants for 16 years. At Otogo, that same discipline — kaiseki dashi, additive-free ingredients, exact seasoning — goes into onigiri from $3.90. The story: what happens when fine-dining technique meets fast-food prices.

Warm and affordable: the empty space

Convenience-store food is cold; fresh-made Japanese food is expensive. Otogo holds the rare middle.

Most quick food forces a trade-off — cheap but cold, or fresh but pricey. Otogo's onigiri, soba and karaage are made to order and handed over warm in about 90 seconds, at everyday prices. The story: a fourth quadrant the category had left empty — warm × affordable.

The 90-second kitchen

Old-Japan flavour at the front; a 22nd-century back-of-house.

Behind the counter: an onigiri machine, a soba machine, a pressure fryer, and a self-order kiosk — engineered so a complete, balanced Japanese meal reaches the customer in about 90 seconds without losing warmth or craft. The story: how do you industrialise care?

Ishoku Dougen — eating to live

Reviving a centuries-old Japanese idea that food and medicine share one source.

Otogo's tagline is “the art of eating to live.” The menu is built around Ishoku Dougen — the idea that everyday food can be what keeps you well — balancing carbohydrate, protein and fibre, additive-free. The story: wellbeing as the default, not a premium add-on.

Rice's turn

“Burgers became a category in the 1970s. Rice waits for its turn.”

Four billion people eat rice as a staple, yet there is no global rice-based fast-food brand the way burgers have one. Otogo's ambition is to build that category, from Sydney outward. The story: the next global fast-food staple may not be wheat.

After you: the three rules behind the counter

Every Otogo decision runs on three principles the whole team lives by.

After you (利他の心) — think of the other person first. Kaizen for you (お客様のための改善) — keep improving, always for the customer, in the spirit of Toyota's kaizen. Global Good (世界に出して恥ずかしくない安全な食) — make food you'd be proud to serve anyone, anywhere. The story: a Sydney fast-food shop run on Japanese workplace philosophy.