<P> Michiba's tenure was interrupted by an illness in mid-1995 that briefly hospitalized him, and afterwards, although his cooking form was as good as ever, he began tiring from the stress of appearing on the show and running his three restaurants: Poisson Rokusaburo in Akasaka, and Ginza Rokusan - tei and Kaishoku - Michiba in Ginza . It only worsened during overtime battles which were made possible by the addition of a fourth judge . </P> <P> According to Takeshi Kaga, after his decision to retire, Rokusaburo Michiba vowed to personally recruit his successor . The show continued with just Iron Chef French Hiroyuki Sakai and Iron Chef Chinese Chen Kenichi for two months . But, finally, it was announced that Michiba had completed his mission with the naming of Koumei Nakamura . "All my instincts told me he was the one," said Michiba . Initially, Nakamura refused, but was convinced to accept . Nakamura's first battle on March 1, 1996 was against French chef Kiyoshi Suzuki . During the introduction of the theme ingredient of the day, Chairman Kaga stated that he could not resist choosing foie gras, wanting to relive some of the magic of Michiba's first victory using the same ingredient . </P> <P> Michiba was also extremely supportive of Nakamura's successor, Masaharu Morimoto . Inarguably, Morimoto took Michiba's "no borders to ingredients" philosophy to a different level . The show often referred to the relationship between Michiba and Morimoto as that between master and student, especially after an episode when Michiba flew to New York to visit Morimoto's restaurant, Nobu . So supportive of Morimoto was Michiba that, before his infamous New York battle with chef Bobby Flay, Michiba gave Morimoto a large box of katsuobushi flakes with a hand - calligraphed message: "respect the old, but seek out the new ." </P> <P> Michiba made appearances throughout the 2012 revival of Iron Chef through interviews on former assistant Kenichi Miyanaga, a seat on the tasting panel and as a competitor against new Iron Chef Jun Kurogi in the revival's 2012 "Ryouri no Tetsujin Dream Match! World Iron Chef Live Battle Special ." </P>

Respect the old but seek out the new