Photo/Illutration Chef Toshio Takaya joined Michael Jackson’s Japan tour in the 1980s purely by chance without even knowing who the popstar was. (Hideki Inoue)

Toshio Takaya once cooked for the King of Pop, but today the 76-year-old chef devotes his culinary skills to children and the elderly at a local community dining hall in Ibaraki Prefecture.

In autumn 1987, while serving as executive chef at a hotel in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, Takaya was unexpectedly asked to step in as Michael Jackson’s personal chef.

The superstar’s regular cook had abruptly departed during Jackson’s Japan tour. Though unfamiliar with the pop icon, Takaya was hired and quickly won Jackson’s favor with a tofu hamburger.

For nearly a month, he worked closely with the singer, even assisting in lighthearted pranks. On one occasion, Jackson asked Takaya to wave from a hotel window while dressed in his stage costume, prompting fans below to mistake him for the star and scream in delight.

The chef would again join Jackson on his Japan tour the following year, but declined invitations to accompany him overseas, weary of the demanding lifestyle.

Back home in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture, Takaya ran an "izakaya" pub until his wife’s passing forced him to close the business 15 years ago.

Around the same time, he found himself at a Tokyo children’s home that Jackson had also visited. There, Takaya found a new purpose in supporting young people.

He began cooking school lunches and teaching simple recipes to children, eventually helping at a local community kitchen.

Now, once a month, Takaya prepares hearty dishes such as curry and "yakisoba" stir-fried noodles for children and seniors in need.

His business card still reads “Former Personal Chef to Michael Jackson,” but his focus is firmly on giving back.

Fees from TV appearances and lectures are donated to the same Tokyo facility that inspired his mission.

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