Request a table

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Tell us what you’re after. The more you give us, the more we can do in a single request.

Some houses ask for a number they can reach on the day. We only share it with the restaurant once your booking is confirmed.

Give us a first choice and a couple of back-ups — with more than one option, we can far more often land you a great table.

Not in the list? You can still request it — any restaurant in Japan.

It doesn’t have to be in our collection. Name a restaurant or an idea — our reach is deepest with the houses we’ve profiled, but we take requests for anywhere in Japan.

Give us a window rather than a single night — the wider it is, the more of these counters we can reach.

Many houses fix the menu in advance, so we pass this on when we book.

Optional — helps us match houses and seats to your party.

We take on the whole experience — lunch or dinner, not just the reservation. Tick anything you’d like and we’ll come back with an individual quote; nothing is charged for extras without your written go-ahead.

Hand us the whole journeyMulti-day food journeys — every restaurant and regional experience found and booked — are designed at ¥50,000 (≈ $313) per day for up to two guests (+¥15,000 per additional guest per day), booking fees included. Anything not listed, describe it in “Anything else” above; we take on almost any request, quoted individually. See our sample journeys

“From” prices are a starting guide; we confirm an exact quote before anything is arranged. One limit: Japanese law reserves the paid arranging of transport and lodging for licensed travel agents, which we are not — so we can’t book flights or hotels directly. We’ll point you the right way, or send clear steps to book them yourself.

Submitting a request opens a standing search: if we secure your table within your requested dates, the booking is confirmed at that moment and the booking fee is charged. The ¥6,000/seat (≈ $38) booking fee is payment for securing your table — charged only on success, and non-refundable once the seat is secured. We search until your last requested date; withdrawing before then takes one email and costs nothing, and if your dates pass unfilled the request closes by itself, uncharged. While we search you may receive an occasional status note — no reply needed. Where a house’s own cancellation policy is stricter than our standard tiers, we check with you in writing before confirming. If you cancel a confirmed booking and the restaurant has its own cancellation policy, we pass that exact charge through with no markup; where a house has no policy, there is nothing to pay. For restaurants outside our collection, the booking fee is ¥10,000 per seat. Full policy

Questions travelers ask

What happens if you can’t get the table?

Nothing is charged. We tell you plainly that the seat could not be secured, and we offer honest alternatives of the same caliber — counters of equal craft that are simply hard to reach from abroad. You are free to decline them all and owe us nothing.

When exactly am I charged?

Never at the request stage. You register a card so we can act the moment a seat opens, but ¥0 is charged until you approve a written confirmation. The booking fee is taken only then. If we never confirm a table, your card is never charged.

Why do I register a card before the table is confirmed?

Japan’s best counters release seats without warning and give them only to people who will not waste them. A registered card lets us commit on your behalf the instant one appears, and it is what lets the restaurant trust us with seats they give no one else. It is a readiness step, not a charge.

How is my card handled?

Your card is stored by Stripe, the same infrastructure used by Amazon and Shopify. We never see or store your card number. If we cannot secure any table for you, the registered card is removed.

Can I cancel? What if my flight is delayed?

Until you approve the written confirmation, you are under no obligation and can walk away for free. After approval, our fee (already earned) is not refunded, and if the restaurant has its own cancellation policy we pass that exact charge through to your card — no markup, nothing where the house has no policy. Genuine emergencies such as a cancelled flight are handled individually and in good faith; we never charge a card without emailing you first.

When will I hear back?

An automatic acknowledgement reaches you within minutes. A real person from our Tokyo desk then follows up — often the same day — with either a confirmed seat or honest options. You will always know where your request stands.

Request a Table — Tokyo Restaurant Reservation Concierge — Shoku Noren