Sukiyabashi Jiro is the sushi name most visitors know, and the one they are least likely to book. The counter’s real reach is in the people it trained: cooks who stayed nine, ten, seventeen years and then opened places of their own, and the cooks who trained under them. This guide lays out who they are, where they work now, and which of their counters you can realistically get into.
Sukiyabashi Jiro in Ginza
Ono Jiro, born in 1925, opened Sukiyabashi Jiro in a Ginza basement in 1965; the apprentices of recent decades trained under him and his elder son, Yoshikazu Ono. The house is known for a fast, fixed sequence of nigiri and for keeping its cooks for a long time: the chefs in the tree below spent between nine and seventeen years at the counter before leaving.
It held three Michelin stars from 2007 to 2019. In 2020 the guide dropped it, because it lists only restaurants the general public can book, and Jiro had stopped taking public reservations. It is not in the MICHELIN Guide Japan 2026.
Why it is so hard to get in:
- Phone only, in Japanese, outside service hours.
- No proxy bookings. The house says so on its own site.
- Overseas visitors only through the concierge of the hotel where they are staying, and passports are checked against the booking name.
- Omakase from ¥88,000 (2026).
That rules out every booking desk, including ours. The current rules are on the Sukiyabashi Jiro release page, and our booking guide covers the hotel‑concierge route in detail.
The family tree
Each line gives the counter, its area, and the training and opening dates we have on record.
- Sukiyabashi Jiro (Ginza) — Ono Jiro, opened 1965
- Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi Hills (Roppongi) — Takashi Ono, Jiro’s second son; a family counter, not an apprentice’s, opened 2003
- Sukiyabashi Jiro Toyosu (Toyosu) — Daizaburo Sato, 12 years at the Ginza house; opened 1981 under the Jiro name as an apprentice’s own counter, not a branch
- Sukiyabashi Jiro Nihonbashi (Takashimaya, Nihonbashi) — began as a support shop for the Ginza house, later handed to an apprentice
- Sushi Harutaka (鮨 青空 — the characters for “blue sky”, read Harutaka; Ginza 8-chome) — Harutaka Takahashi, Sushizen in Sapporo from age 18, then 12 years at Jiro in Ginza (one account says 13); independent 2006; Three MICHELIN Stars (MICHELIN Guide Japan 2026)
- Koharu (Ginza/Shinbashi) — Toshiyuki Kurita, 15 years at Harutaka from its opening
- Mitsui (Azabu‑Juban) — Sho Mitsui, 8½ years at Harutaka; opened Sushi Sho in Nishi‑Azabu in 2021 (since closed), then Mitsui on 1 May 2025
- Sushi Nakazawa (New York, with further counters in Washington, DC and Los Angeles) — Daisuke Nakazawa, more than 11 years at Jiro in Ginza, seen in the 2011 documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi; opened in New York in 2013, Washington, DC in 2018 and Los Angeles in May 2026
- Sushi Masuda (Minami‑Aoyama) — Rei Masuda, 9 years at Jiro in Ginza; opened in Omotesando in 2014, closed in 2019 over a problem with the building, reopened in Minami‑Aoyama on 29 January 2022
- Sushi Matsuura (Shirokane) — Osamu Matsuura, Ginza Onodera, then second chef at Sushi Masuda; opened September 2019
- Sushi Masashi (Kita‑Aoyama) — Masashi Yamaguchi, the Ritz‑Carlton, then Sushi Masuda, then Sushi Wakon at the Four Seasons Kyoto; opened June 2020
- Sushi Mizukami (Hanzomon) — Michinobu Mizukami, 16 years with Jiro (one at Ginza, fifteen at Roppongi); opened March 2018
- Sushi Ao (Kita‑Aoyama, Omotesando) — Ryo Okazaki, about 10 years at Jiro in Ginza under Ono Jiro and Yoshikazu Ono; opened 2020
- Sushi Muto (Nihonbashi) — Keiji Muto, second chef at Sushi Ao, with kappo experience before that; opened 10 June 2023
- Nihonbashi Kawaguchi (Nihonbashi‑Honcho) — Yudai Kawaguchi, 11 years at Jiro in Ginza under Ono Jiro and Yoshikazu Ono; opened March 2025
- Sushi Mizutani (Ginza, closed) — Hachiro Mizutani, 10 years at Yoshino, then about 17 years at Jiro
- Sushi Yuki (Hiroo) — Yuki Hayashinouchi, 7 years at Sushi Mizutani by one account, 8 as its second chef by another; ran Tokiwa‑zushi in Kannai, Yokohama, as its third generation, then moved to Hiroo and took the new name in 2024
- Sushi Riku (Nishi‑Azabu) — Riku Toda, Sushi Mizutani straight after high school, then second chef at Nihonbashi Kakigaracho Sugita, then 5 years at Sushi Ichizu in Bangkok; opened September 2024
- Sushi Keita (Tsukiji) — Keita Aoyama, 2½ years at Sushi Mizutani, then 3½ years at Sushi Taichi among other counters; opened September 2017
- Ebisu Endo (Ebisu) — Norihito Endo, Sushi Mizutani (length not recorded), then 5 years at Sushi Saito; opened February 2019
- Kotan (Sakurazaka, Fukuoka) — Kazuki Noguchi, 8 years in Tokyo between Sushi Mizutani and Sushi Hashimoto; opened 2021
Two points that are often misreported: Hachiro Mizutani was not a fellow apprentice who merely trained alongside Jiro; he worked at Sukiyabashi Jiro for about seventeen years. And Michinobu Mizukami is a direct apprentice, not a grand‑apprentice.
Counters that are easier to book
These are the counters in the tree where a seat realistically comes up. Each is its own restaurant with its own chef; none of them is a way into the Ginza house.
Nihonbashi Kawaguchi
- The chef: Yudai Kawaguchi, 11 years at Jiro in Ginza under Ono Jiro and Yoshikazu Ono. Opened March 2025, the newest counter in the tree.
- Price: lunch from ¥24,200, dinner omakase from ¥33,000 (tax included); eight seats.
- How to book: OMAKASE only; the following month is reported to open on the 1st. See the Nihonbashi Kawaguchi release page.
- Through us: yes, at ¥12,000 per seat, charged only if we secure the table and you approve it. This house takes bookings online only. We will try the routes open to us; if none works, we will tell you and nothing is charged.
Sushi Masashi
- The chef: Masashi Yamaguchi, who trained at Sushi Masuda after the Ritz‑Carlton and went on to Sushi Wakon at the Four Seasons Kyoto. Opened June 2020; now in Kita‑Aoyama with ten counter seats and a four‑seat room.
- Price: omakase ¥39,600.
- How to book: OMAKASE, or by phone in Japanese. The release schedule appears only on OMAKASE. See the Sushi Masashi release page.
- Through us: yes, by phone in Japanese; ¥12,000 per seat, charged only if we secure the table and you approve it.
Sushi Yuki
- The chef: Yuki Hayashinouchi, 7 to 8 years at Sushi Mizutani (the accounts differ), latterly as second chef by one of them. Opened in Hiroo in 2024.
- Price: lunch nigiri ¥17,600–19,800; omakase ¥28,600–33,000.
- How to book: OMAKASE only, one booking per account per month, released roughly a week at a time, so seats a few days out often appear. See the Sushi Yuki release page.
- Through us: yes, at ¥12,000 per seat, charged only if we secure the table and you approve it. We do not book from your account; our desk phones the house and asks.
Sushi Ao
- The chef: Ryo Okazaki, about 10 years at Jiro in Ginza under Ono Jiro and Yoshikazu Ono. Opened 2020.
- Price: not yet in our records. Cancellation costs 50% the day before and 100% on the day.
- How to book: OMAKASE only, one booking per account per month. The whole following month opens on the 1st at 12:00 Japan time; the phone is for questions only. Lunch Wednesday, Friday and Saturday; dinner Tuesday to Saturday. See the Sushi Ao release page.
- Through us: yes, at ¥12,000 per seat, charged only if we secure the table and you approve it. We do not book from your account; our desk phones the house and asks.
Sukiyabashi Jiro Toyosu
- The chef: Daizaburo Sato, 12 years at the Ginza house, who opened this counter under the Jiro name in 1981. It is his own restaurant, not a branch of Ginza.
- The meal: lunch is mostly nigiri sets, a different meal from the Ginza omakase.
- How to get in: lunch is first come, first served.
- Through us: there is nothing to request; arrive early and queue.
Other counters in the family
The rest of the tree, including the counters that are as hard to book as Ginza.
- Sukiyabashi Jiro Roppongi Hills — Takashi Ono’s counter sells its seats in your own name on its official platforms, Pocket Concierge and Rakuten Travel Experiences. We do not book from your account, but our desk can phone the house and ask; if no seat can be secured, nothing is charged.
- Sushi Harutaka (鮨 青空) — Three MICHELIN Stars (MICHELIN Guide Japan 2026); books open on the 1st of each month for dates through the end of the month after next, on Ikyu, Gnavi and by phone. Online seats go first.
- Sushi Masuda — eight seats; the whole following month opens on OMAKASE on the 1st at 12:00 Japan time, with the phone, Pocket Concierge and Ikyu also taking bookings.
- Sushi Mizukami — phone only, in Japanese; the house says booking sites are not accepted. Seats run several months out.
- Sushi Matsuura — eight seats, phone only in practice; diners report waits of about a year.
- Sushi Riku — eight seats on OMAKASE; moved from Hiroo to Nishi‑Azabu in July 2026.
- Sushi Keita — eight seats on OMAKASE; the following month opens on the 1st at 12:00 Japan time and sells quickly.
- Kotan — eight seats near Ohori Park in Fukuoka, on OMAKASE.
- Ebisu Endo — its chef went on from Sushi Mizutani to five years at Sushi Saito.
- Sushi Nakazawa — Daisuke Nakazawa’s counter in New York, now also in Washington, DC and Los Angeles. It is outside Japan, so we do not request it.
- Koharu, Mitsui and Sushi Muto — the second generation from Sushi Harutaka and Sushi Ao.
- Sukiyabashi Jiro Nihonbashi — the apprentice‑run counter in Nihonbashi Takashimaya.
Where we fit
We do not request the Ginza house, which refuses proxy bookings and accepts overseas visitors only through their hotel’s concierge, and nobody can legitimately resell a seat there. Where a counter in this tree can be requested, we have said so above: send the restaurant and your dates on the request form, and we will tell you plainly what is achievable. If you would rather leave the family tree behind, the counters in our collection are requested at ¥6,000 per seat, charged only if we secure the table and you approve it.
SHOKU NOREN research, checked October 2026.
