A hilltop house above Takayama where the owner forages the menu himself — bookable, but only with three days' notice and by the door the house points you to.
By SHOKU NOREN TeamFacts last verified September 2026How we check
In shortHida seasonal cuisine — foraged mountain vegetables, river fish, wild mushrooms and game, plus A5 Hida beef. You can book it online yourself, or our Tokyo desk can request the table for you.
Price
Courses ¥16,000–24,000 most of the year; mushroom and game seasons ¥28,000–36,000; premium cottage course ¥35,000–45,000 — service included
Hours
Lunch 12:00–15:00 (last order 14:30); dinner 17:30–21:30 (last order 21:00)
Closed
Irregular; no bookings 27–30 December
Seats
Around 30 — an eight-stool counter, an upstairs table for two to five, a tatami room for four to eight, and a detached irori cottage for four to eight
Payment
Cards accepted (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners); PayPay and au PAY
Getting there
Takayama Station, about 10 minutes by taxi; a few minutes' walk from Hotel Associa Takayama Resort
Dress code
No dress code
Sakana sits on a rise ten minutes above Takayama’s old town, looking
out at the Northern Alps by day and the city lights by night, and it is
run by two people. One of them, chef Hayao Imai, spends his mornings in
the mountains and rivers of Hida gathering what the evening will serve.
Born in Gero in 1960, he trained for eleven years in Kansai — a
traditional Kyoto kitchen, then head chef of an innovative Osaka
restaurant — before opening Sakana in central Takayama in 1991. In 2011
he moved it up the hill and made it reservation‑only, so that nothing
has to be stocked that the day’s foraging did not supply. The Michelin
Guide Aichi‑Gifu‑Mie 2019 gave the house one star; Tabelog has listed it
among its Japanese‑cuisine top 100 (2021) and given it a Bronze award
three years running (2024–2026).
What you eat
The calendar is the menu. From early May to early June the seasonal
course is wild mountain vegetables (¥18,000–20,000); July to September
it is river fish — ayu, iwana and amago, some of them caught by the
chef (¥20,000–24,000); from mid‑September to late October wild
mushrooms, served either charcoal‑grilled (¥28,000–32,000) or in a
Hida‑beef sukiyaki (¥32,000–36,000); and from December to late April
game — bear, boar, deer and badger from trusted local hunters
(¥28,000–32,000). Between seasons, or for anyone who wants beef, the
chef’s omakase and the Hida beef course are ¥17,800 each, a shabu‑shabu
course ¥16,000 for two or more, and a premium whole‑house course for
four to eight is served around the hearth in the detached cottage at
¥35,000–45,000. Service is included in every price.
The booking reality
Lunch and dinner are both reservation‑only, and the house asks for at
least three days’ notice because it buys and forages to order. There
is no release day to chase: the house lists on Ikyu and Hitosara,
takes Japanese phone calls, and closes its books only for 27–30
December. The catch for visitors is the door. The house states plainly
that it does not take phone or email bookings from guests who do not
speak Japanese. Our desk books the
Japanese way — by phone, in Japanese — which is simply the normal route
for this house. Note also that weekday lunch needs two guests, the
counter is held for singles and couples, the rooms for groups, and
children are generally not seated at dinner (lunch can be possible if
no one else has booked). Guests of eight or more should ask first.
You can book it online yourself, or our Tokyo desk can request it for you. Request this table →
Go if you
Travelers with a night in Takayama who would rather eat what the Hida
mountains produced that week than another Hida‑beef set menu — and
anyone planning far enough ahead to give a small house the three days
it asks for. In mushroom or game season, this is one of the best
reasons to come to Takayama at all.
The house's cancellation charge
From 00:00 JST, 2 days before30%
From 00:00 JST, 1 day before50%
Same day, with notice100%
Same day, no notice (no-show)100%
Charged by the house, not by us. A plan's own policy takes precedence.
Free release-date alerts: the day before, on the morning of release day (08:00 JST) and about 30 minutes before when the time is known — or a weekly summary if the house opens a little every day.
Hida Kisetsu Ryori Sakana: common questions
Can you book Hida Kisetsu Ryori Sakana from abroad?
Yes. Reservation-only, at least three days ahead; Japanese phone or Ikyu/Hitosara. The house does not take phone or email bookings from guests who do not speak Japanese. You can book online yourself, or our Tokyo desk can request the table for you; our ¥6,000-per-seat fee is charged only if we confirm your table.
Some of these links are referral links: if you book through them we may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. Restaurants never pay us to be listed or ranked. Editorial policy
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Facts on this page were checked by our Tokyo desk. You are welcome to quote them with a link:
