The counters you can't book from abroad.
We book them from Tokyo.

Many of Japan's finest restaurants take reservations only by phone, in Japanese, from a domestic number — some only through people they trust. Shoku Noren — shoku (食) is food; a noren is the curtain you pass through to enter — is operated in Tokyo by JSTARs Inc., a restaurant group working daily with Michelin-starred chefs. We hold seats others simply cannot reach.

Request a table

How it works

1. Tell us where & when

Name a restaurant — or describe the experience you want (edomae sushi, kaiseki, yakitori, tempura) — with your dates and party size. Registering your card takes 2 minutes. Nothing is charged yet.

2. We work the phones

Our Tokyo team calls in Japanese, uses our own allocation seats at partner restaurants, and watches cancellation windows. We reply within 24 hours with a confirmed seat or honest alternatives of equal caliber.

3. Dine. We guarantee you.

Once you confirm, the booking fee is charged and your seat is secured under our no-show guarantee to the restaurant — which is exactly why they trust us with seats they give no one else.

What we can secure

Partner allocation

Guaranteed counter seats at restaurants in our own group and partner network — including Michelin-starred sushi in Ginza. Instant confirmation, even on dates the public calendar shows full.

Phone-only houses

Hundreds of superb restaurants never appear on booking platforms: Japanese-only, phone-only, domestic numbers only. Invisible from abroad — routine for us.

The near-impossible

Introduction-only counters are accepted as requests, never promised. When a seat surfaces through our network, we offer it first-come to waiting guests. We will always tell you the truth about your odds.

Pricing & cancellation

Booking fee: ¥8,000 per seat

Charged only when your reservation is confirmed. No seat, no fee. Course prices are paid to the restaurant (or prepaid through us for allocation seats — stated clearly before you confirm).

Concierge services — quoted individually

Interpreter accompaniment at dinner (from ¥20,000), special arrangements with the house (from ¥5,000), full gourmet itinerary design (from ¥20,000). Advice on transport and lodging is always free — where booking them is needed, we introduce licensed travel partners who work with you directly.

Cancellation timing	Charge (% of estimated course total)
4+ days before	Free (booking fee is non-refundable)
2–3 days before	50%
1 day / same day / no-show	100%

Cancellation charges are passed to the restaurant as compensation. This guarantee is why chefs entrust us with their counters. Where a restaurant's own official policy is stricter, its schedule is stated in your Confirmation and prevails — nothing is binding until you approve it.

Ready?

Tell us what you're dreaming of. If we can't seat you there, we'll tell you honestly — and show you where the same craft is served without the waiting list.