Alan Fisher, an Irish graduate of Dublin City University, was seeking a challenge in his life after graduating in 2008. Through an overseas graduate program that introduced Irish graduates to companies in Asia, Alan received an offer to work at a company in Tokyo. He accepted the offer and moved to Tokyo, where he eventually met his wife, who is now his business partner.
After his wedding, Alan experienced a feeling of being trapped, wondering if his life would simply revolve around having kids and working in the same company. He decided to take the leap of faith and start his own business, which was not a difficult decision for him to make as he chose Irish food and culture as the main themes of his business. In August 2014, Alan opened his restaurant, Kyojin Stewhouse, which focuses on the mainstays of Irish households such as stews, soups, homemade bread, and potatoes in Tokyo
Alan’s dedication and hard work paid off after he broke the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon previously held by Hilda Baci of Nigeria on November 7th, 2023. This feat was accomplished almost five months after Hilda’s record-breaking feat, where she broke the 87-hour and 45-minute record held by India’s Lata Tondon in 2019.
Alan’s achievement is even more impressive as he took on both attempts back to back, meaning he was working in the kitchen for over 160 hours with just over a day of rest in between. He broke the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual) after clocking in a time of 119 hours and 57 minutes, more than 24 hours longer than the previous record held by Nigerian chef Hilda Baci. Then, he claimed the longest baking marathon (individual) with a time of 47 hours and 21 minutes, breaking the previous record held by Wendy Sandner of the United States with a time of 31 hours and 16 minutes.
Alan’s dedication to his craft is evident through his work and his own words. As he described it, “Towards the end of the cooking marathon, however, as fatigue started to take hold, I would find it more and more difficult to stay awake whenever I sat down to start peeling. The rhythm of the peeling would almost hypnotize me. I had one hallucination on the second-to-last day. I turned to ask someone to pass me something, like I would on any normal day only to realize there was no one there.”
Despite his fame and success, Alan has been private about his personal life, and there is no information available about his family or personal details on the internet. While his net worth is unknown, he is believed to have earned a substantial amount of money from his successful career as a chef.
Many remarks were made about his new achievement, and while some chose to criticize him, many others were happy for him. Following a comment on X claiming that he is a racist for going for a black lady’s record, another person on X clarified their position.
“This is not even racial motivation. The guy’s business took a hit because of the pandemic. He barely recovered. His business needed a pick-me-up. He capitalized heavily on his talent. I don’t think making it about a white man wanting to displace a black woman is unfair on him.”
We learned a little bit about him from that comment, including his character, his drive for greatness, and the outcomes that are evident to all of us.