Iron Wok Jan

Iron Wok Jan (鉄鍋のジャン) is a Japanese manga written and illustrated by Shinji Saijyo. The manga was licensed in English by ComicsOne before the license was transferred to DrMaster.

A sequel, Iron Wok Jan! R: The Summit Operations, was also released in Japan by Akita Shoten and in France by Soleil Manga. A spin-off, Tetsupai no Jan!, by Bingo Morihashi, started to be published by Takeshobo in 2015.

Akiyama family

 * Jan Akiyama (秋山 醤) is a 16-year-old talented young chef and the male protagonist of the manga. His grandfather is Kaiichiro Akiyama, the “master of Chinese cuisine”.
 * Kaiichiro Akiyama (秋山 階一郎) is known as the “master of Chinese cuisine”. Kaiichiro raised Jan until his tastebuds began to fail, at which point he sent Jan to Gobancho and committed suicide by self-immolation.
 * Minki Tou (桃 明輝) is Jan's grandmother and Kaiichiro's wife.
 * Baku Akiyama (秋山 爆) is Jan's father and Kaiichiro's son.

Gobanchou family

 * Kiriko Gobanchou (五番町 霧子) is one of the best cooks in Gobanchou, her family's Chinese restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo. She is the same age as Jan.
 * Takao Okonogi (小此木 タカオ)
 * Mutsuju Gobanchou (五番町 睦十)

Publication
Akita Shoten released the 27 tankōbon manga between June 1995 and March 2000. The manga was re-released into 16 kanzenban volumes between December 2004 and September 2007. ComicsOne published the manga's 27 tankōbon between December 15, 2002, and December 28, 2007.

Akita Shoten started releasing the sequel, Iron Wok Jan! R: The Summit Operations (鉄鍋のジャン!R 頂上作戦), on November 9, 2006, and concluded on December 9, 2010, in the Weekly Shōnen Champion magazine. From March 8, 2007, to January 8, 2009, the publisher released ten bound volumes.

A spin-off series, Tetsupai no Jan! (鉄牌のジャン!), written and illustrated by Bingo Morihashi started its serialization on Takeshobo's Kindai Mahjong magazine on August 12, 2015. The successor of manga, titled Iron Work Jan 2nd, which was released in January 2017 in the February 2017 issue of Kadokawa's Monthly Dragon Age.

Reception
Comics Worth Reading's Johanna Draper Carlson comments on the illustrator's use of caricatures to dramatise the manga. Manga Life's Michael Aronson commends the manga for its art and its ability to appeal to audiences. Animefringe.com's Ridwan Khan comments on the "love-hate relationship" between Jan and Kiriko. IGN's A.E. Sparrow comments on the artist's ability to make a cooking competition as compelling to watch "as watching two feudal clans go to war".