This series rediscovers the character of Akiruno and Itsukaichi through the cuisine and thinking of chef Naoki Matsuo of L’Arbre. It follows the process of showcasing local ingredients, including traditional vegetables, native varieties, and the natural bounty of the land. Through French culinary techniques, they offer customers a way to experience the different seasons and the transitional passage of time that is unique to this place. Here, food is understood as more than taste: it is a practice that reflects the history, culture, and nature of the land itself.
A short walk uphill from Musashi-Itsukaichi Station, through a path of dense overhanging trees, you discover a small surprise: a stately Western-style building. Step inside, and the atmosphere shifts. Soft light, the warmth of the interior wood. In the kitchen of L’Arbre, French cuisine shaped by this corner of Tokyo is slowly taking form.
Chef Naoki trained in France and across Japan before returning, working here now with what nature provides them. Vegetables and herbs he tends himself, alongside regional produce: Tokyo Shamo chicken and Akigawa beef. Each ingredient carries the memory of the land it comes from. The menu turns over every two months, but the dinner course holds a consistent logic: it begins in Tama and the islands, and ends there too. Each course incorporates traditional vegetables. When ingredients are abundant, instinct guides the chef’s hand. When they are scarce, the dish is built carefully from what is available.
Many ideas begin not in the kitchen but in conversation. A remark heard while foraging for mountain vegetables. A preservation technique passed on by a local farmer between rows. These fragments of knowledge are rarely written down. Matsuo listens, interprets, and finds a way to bring them back to the table. It is his grounding in French technique, the ability to read an ingredient and understand how to draw out and harmonise its character, that allows what this land produces to fully come forward.
Each dish is composed with an awareness of the shifting seasons and the scent of the landscape. What arrives at the table seems to carry more than just the chef’s craft: the rhythms of the forest, the fields, and the texture of daily life, are all layered onto the plate. The meal becomes not only a matter of taste, but an encounter with the culture rooted in this place.
He once held up a freshly harvested Terajima eggplant and said: “Without people who eat, there will be no one left to grow.” The remark stayed. There are still ingredients and recipes in this land waiting to be found. In Itsukaichi, this French cuisine story continues to be written.
Naoki Matsuo, Chef and Owner, L’Arbre
Naoki grew up in Mizuho, a farming town in the western reaches of Tokyo. At the Imperial Hotel’s Les Saisons, he rose to sous chef, cooking classical French cuisine with Japanese ingredients for visiting heads of state. A stage at Le Cinq, the three-Michelin-starred restaurant at the Four Seasons George V in Paris, deepened his sense of what food could carry. In 2021, an encounter with an organic farmer led him to start cultivating the land himself. Two years later, he opened L’Arbre in Itsukaichi. In 2026, he received the Terroir Award from Gault & Millau Japan, with L’Arbre earning three toques for the third consecutive year.
About Akiruno
Akiruno is located in the western part of Tokyo. The eastern part of Akiruno is a plain surrounded by gentle hills, while the western part features mountainous areas that are part of Okutama. The area once thrived on forestry and silk spinning, and the remnants of those days are shown in the old kominka that are still in existence, a testament to the history and culture of those times. The rich natural environment, exemplified by the Akigawa Valley, attracts enthusiasts of fishing, camping, hiking, and trail running. It is known as a place where the convenience of urban life can be combined with the pleasures of rural living.
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