How many season was Iron Chef on Japan television and was it popular?

How many season was Iron Chef on Japan television and was it as popular as it is in the states. Are the chefs still cooking after all these years.

Iron Chef was on television for 6 years, most of the 7 chefs on the show owned restaurants before being on the show, and the few who didn't do now.

Also the third Japanese Chef, Morimoto, is now on Iron Chef USA.

this may help...it has all the background info