The Journal
Michelin, lineage, and how Japan's restaurants take bookings
Field notes from our Tokyo desk — who is actually reachable and how, the histories behind the counters, and the realistic way in. Written by the people who make these calls every day.
189 articles
Regions & Itineraries
Tsukiji vs Toyosu: Tokyo's Fish Markets, Explained
Tokyo has two fish markets and they do different jobs. Toyosu is the working wholesale market — the tuna auctions moved there in 2018, viewable from galleries in the early morning, with serious sushi and donburi restaurants inside. Tsukiji's outer market stayed behind and remains the great street-food morning: knife shops, tamagoyaki stands, uni and tuna over rice. The honest advice: go to Tsukiji for the eating,…
Etiquette & Culture
How to Order in Japanese: The Restaurant Phrases That Matter
You need surprisingly little Japanese to order well: state your party size on entry (futari desu — two people), summon staff with sumimasen, point at the menu with kore o kudasai (this, please), ask for the recommendation with osusume wa?, and hand the whole decision over with omakase de (chef's choice). Add toriaezu nama (a draft beer to start) for izakaya credibility and mizu kudasai for water. Staff meet you more…
Michelin & Rankings
Best Kaiseki in Japan You Can Actually Book
The most bookable great kaiseki in Japan is usually outside Kyoto. Fukudaya in Tokyo, Tanakaya in Yokohama and Nakashima in Hiroshima take outside reservations; Kataori in Kanazawa and Takamura in Akita, which rank higher with Japanese critics, are close to shut. Rankings measure cooking, not access.
Regions & Itineraries
Best Restaurants in Tokyo You Can Actually Book
Tokyo's famous omakase counters are largely introduction-only, but the city's deepest eating is not there. Its long-running specialist houses — anglerfish, duck sukiyaki, Edo tempura, century-old yakitori — take reservations from outside guests — by telephone in Japanese and, at most of them, on Japanese booking sites such as Tabelog and Ikyu. Plan four to six weeks ahead.
Regions & Itineraries
Ginza Food Guide: How Tokyo's Grandest District Eats
Ginza is the most decorated square mile of dining in the world, its counters hidden in the upper floors and basements of nondescript buildings. The great strategy is lunch, at a third of the evening price. The great discipline is the calendar — Harutaka, Hakkoku and L'Osier open on the 1st, Kiyota on the 20th, Shinohara on the 25th.
Booking & Access
How to Book Naruse — Japan's Most Credentialed Tempura Counter
Naruse seats eight guests at one counter in Shizuoka, and chef Takeo Shimura serves a single omakase per service. The public door is OMAKASE: on the 1st of each month at 11:00 JST it opens the month two months ahead, with one booking per account per quarter. Regulars rebook at the counter, and a few seats surface on invitation platforms and the Shoku-Oku auction. Be online at the release and hold several dates.
Ingredients & Seasons
Fugu Season: Eating Japan's Pufferfish, Safely and Well
Fugu is eaten in winter — roughly November through February, when torafugu is at its best and shirako appears — and it is the most tightly regulated food in Japan: only licensed chefs may prepare it, and restaurant fugu has an essentially unblemished modern safety record. A classic course runs tessa (paper-thin sashimi), tecchiri (hotpot), karaage, grilled shirako and hire-zake. Shimonoseki in Yamaguchi is the fugu…
Booking & Access
How to Book Den in Tokyo (2026)
Den takes reservations by telephone only — noon to 17:00 Japan time, Monday to Saturday, up to two months ahead, parties of four or fewer — and explicitly refuses online bookings, agencies and intermediaries; a seat is confirmed only when the restaurant's email arrives. Prime dates sell out as soon as the two-month window opens. Because Den bans third-party booking, the direct route is calling yourself when the…
Booking & Access
How to Book Komatsu Yasuke, Kanazawa's Legendary Sushi Counter
Komatsu Yasuke in Kanazawa is the counter of Kazuo Morita, a master in his nineties often called the god of sushi. It serves lunch seatings only — 11:30, 13:00 and 14:30, closed Wednesdays and Thursdays — and takes reservations by telephone only (answered 14:30–18:00): on the 1st of each month the book opens for the month three months ahead. Seats vanish almost immediately and regulars come first, so first-time…
Booking & Access
How to Book Kyubey in Ginza (2026)
Ginza Kyubey, founded in 1935, is the rare legendary Tokyo sushi house a visitor can actually book. The main house takes phone reservations from 10:00 (Japanese), online bookings on Ikyu, and English bookings through its official partner; dinner should be reserved ahead, while lunch beyond the 11:30 seating is first come, first served. The official site lists lunch sets at ¥8,250, ¥11,000 and ¥16,500 and dinner…
Booking & Access
How to Book Sushi Sugita in Tokyo (2026)
Nihonbashi Kakigaracho Sugita, chef Takaaki Sugita's counter, is effectively regulars-first: returning guests rebook at the counter and the phone rarely answers. Leftover and cancelled seats appear on an OMAKASE page with no fixed release day, often at short notice. Realistic first-timer routes are the cancellation watch, an invitation from a regular, or a concierge request — there is no simple online calendar to…
Ingredients & Seasons
Japan's Crab Season: Kobako, Echizen, Matsuba and Where to Eat Them
Japan's snow-crab (zuwai-gani) fishery on the Sea of Japan opens each year on November 6. Males — sold under regional brands like echizen-gani (Fukui), kano-gani (Kanazawa) and matsuba-gani (San'in) — run through roughly March; the small female kobako-gani, packed with roe, is legal only until late December, making it one of the shortest and most fanatically awaited seasons in Japanese food. The Hokuriku coast…