Kazuo Yamagishi (1934-2015) was a Japanese chef, who is known for inventing the tsukemen dish. He was born in Nagano Prefecture, and came upon the idea of Tsukemen at the age of 17 after seeing a co-worker eating noodles dipped in a soup bowl. In 1961, he added tsukemen, then named "special morisoba", to his Taishoken restaurant.
The 2013 documentary The God of Ramen, follows 13 years in his life.