Hokkaido & Tohoku: when the hardest tables open reservations
Release days, booking channels and phone-line hours for 40 hard-to-book restaurants in Hokkaido & Tohoku — checked monthly by a Tokyo reservation desk.
40 houses · Phone, in Japanese 17 houses · Monthly 3 houses
Phone, in JapaneseThe line only a Japanese speaker can work — this is where our desk earns its fee.
PlatformA Japanese booking platform (OMAKASE, TableCheck, Pocket Concierge, Ikyu).
OnlineThe house's own web form or major sites.
No reservationsQueue or name list on the day.
Introduction onlyRegulars and their guests only; no public book.
OMAKASE, TableCheck, Pocket Concierge and Ikyu are Japanese booking apps; most need a Japanese phone number or card. "In our collection" marks houses with a full profile on this site.
Phone only. The book opens at 11:00 on the first business day of each month and covers dates through the end of the following month. No proxy bookings.
☎ From 11:00 on the same date two months ahead; +81-134-23-1425 (line is often busy)
Phone first. Each date opens at 11:00 JST on the same day two months earlier; the Toreta web form only shows what is left. Overseas guests may use the official JPNEAZY link.
Michelin-starred Otaru counter. The house says the phone is hard to get through on release mornings; overseas guests are pointed to the JPNEAZY proxy service (10–15% fee, prepaid).
Reservations open two months ahead by phone (an OMAKASE page also exists). Two seatings, 18:00 and 20:30, nine seats — weekend dates go on release.
Tabelog Award Bronze 2026, Tempura Hyakumeiten; the house states bookings open two months ahead, and weekend sittings go on release. Course is priced by the day's fish.
☎ From 11:00 on release day (official); reports cite 11:00–17:00 on other days
Phone only. The book opens at 11:00 on the first business day of each month and covers dates through the end of the following month. No proxy bookings.
Three Michelin stars, two seatings; the line is jammed on release morning and prime dates go within the hour. No proxy bookings accepted.
Phone or Ikyu/Gurunavi with normal lead time — no release day. Weekend dinners fill about a month ahead; cancellation charged from the day before.
Tabelog Award Silver 2026 (Bronze 2020–2025); ¥33,000 chef's course + 13% service. Weekend dinners go about a month out; 50% charge the day before, 100% same day.
The counter cannot be reserved — walk-in, first come. Second-floor private rooms are booked by phone in Japanese with normal lead time; no release day.
The ten-seat counter is walk-in only; weekends queue before opening. Closing days are irregular, announced monthly.
☎ Not published; +81-11-215-0998, Mon–Sat evenings
Phone only, no online booking. No published release day — diners report calling one to two months ahead; the 18:00 seating goes first. We call and check.
Michelin-starred 7-seat counter with two seatings (18:00 / 20:30). Diners report booking one to two months ahead; no fixed release day is published.
Email or phone, Japanese-first. The book opens exactly two months ahead of each date — kept deliberately for fairness — and dates vanish almost immediately.
Roughly thirty dates a month for the whole world; propose flexible dates the day the window opens.
Online via TableCheck. On the 1st of each month the whole month three months ahead opens (e.g. August opens 1 May); phone in Japanese for leftovers.
Long-running Michelin two-star, 8-seat counter, ¥36,000 omakase. TableCheck page warns the owner speaks no English and that late arrivals over 15 minutes are not served.
No reservations — queue only. Open 11:00–19:00, closed Mondays and the 1st/3rd Tuesday; arrive before noon in summer and autumn.
Birthplace of butadon (1933), two minutes from Obihiro Station. Queues at lunch in season; off-season weekdays can be walk-straight-in. 11:00–19:00, closed Mon and 1st/3rd Tue.
No reservations (official). Take a number from the machine on the 6th floor from 10:00, wait for the LINE or e-mail call, and come back within 15 minutes.
Sapporo's most-queued conveyor sushi: 30–60 minutes on weekdays, one to two hours at weekends. Register on the machine, get LINE/e-mail alerts, and return within 15 minutes of the call or lose the slot.
Members and referrals only. Bookings need a member number or an existing member's introduction, by phone in Japanese during two daily windows (9:00–12:00, 17:00–21:30).
A member number or an existing member's introduction is required; cancellation terms start two days out.
Walk-in only — no reservation system is published. Open Mon–Sat 9:00–20:45, Sunday until 16:00; expect a lunch queue, or use the Fesan branch inside Morioka Station.
Original jajamen shop, 21 seats, under ¥1,000. Mon–Sat 9:00–20:45, Sunday 11:30–16:00. Lines form at lunch; the Fesan station-building branch is the overflow option.
Online only via TERIYAKI Booking. Phone bookings are effectively impossible. New months are released in batches on the platform; the current window is shown on the booking page.
Four-seat counter run solo; the chef rarely answers the phone. Seats appear only on TERIYAKI Booking and go quickly. Minimum two guests.
Bookable any time: instant online reservation on Pocket Concierge (English OK), or phone/email up to two days before. No release-day scramble.
36 seats across two counters and semi-private tables; instant confirmation on Pocket Concierge, English menu and staff. Weeks, not months, of lead time.
Reservation-only, bookable any time online (Pocket Concierge and other platforms) or by phone. No fixed release day; book a few weeks ahead for weekends.
Reservation-only, 12-seat counter plus private rooms. Overseas guests without a Japanese phone number are asked to book online and watch their email for confirmation.
Effectively walk-in: no reservations at busy times, seated in arrival order from 08:30. Phone bookings are accepted only on quiet weekdays; evenings are at the Ekimae branch.
Summer (Jun–mid Aug, Ezo bafun uni) and weekend mornings queue 30–60 min; the line may be cut when remaining groups cannot be seated before last order.
OMAKASE platform only (English page); no phone bookings. Seats are released in batches, but the release timing is not published — watch the platform and the house's Instagram.
Eight seats, one 18:30 seating; no phone bookings, cards only.
One email at the end of each month: next month's reservation release days for Japan's hardest tables — which phone lines open on the 1st, at what hour — plus what comes into season. No noise; unsubscribe anytime.
Rules are verified against official notices and platform listings and re-checked monthly. Houses change their systems without warning; treat the calendar as a planning tool and let us confirm the specifics for your dates.