In shortEdomae and "Ezomae" sushi — Tokyo technique on fish from every coast of Hokkaido — five minutes from Sapporo Station. You can book it online yourself, or our Tokyo desk can request the table for you.
Price
Platform omakase courses about ¥20,500–24,500 per person; à la carte by phone; the house does not publish a current price list
Hours
Dinner only, 17:00 until last entry 20:30; closes 22:30
Closed
Sundays, plus occasional consecutive days
Seats
36 — two counters of eleven and thirteen, and a private table room
Payment
Cards, transit and other e-money, QR payments accepted
Getting there
Sapporo Station / Sapporo subway, 5 minutes on foot; 9th floor of the Rokkatei building
Party size
Solo diners accepted
Children
Primary school age and over
Tanabe is the sushi counter Sapporo’s own eaters point visitors to,
and the reason is not only the fish. Masashi Watanabe, born in 1968
and raised in Eniwa, began his apprenticeship at fifteen, went independent
at twenty‑two, was the founding sushi chef
of the Windsor Hotel Toya when it opened in 2002, and came back to
open Tanabe in the late 2000s. The Michelin Guide Hokkaido 2012 gave
it three stars — the house still says so on its website — and in July
2015 it moved to the ninth floor of the Rokkatei building, five
minutes’ walk from Sapporo Station.
Tabelog placed it among its top 100 sushi houses in eastern Japan in
2021. The staff speak English, and say so.
What you eat
The house’s own word for its style is “Ezomae”: Edomae craft — curing,
marinating, aging — applied to what Hokkaido lands, with fish bought
across the island as well as from Kyushu and Tsukiji when the season
argues for it. Some pieces are worked; some, the chef says, are left
alone because freshness is the point. The platforms sell two omakase
dinners — an appetizer, sashimi, small dishes, eight or ten pieces of
nigiri, soup and dessert — at roughly ¥20,500 and ¥24,500 a head; by
phone you can also book a seat for à la carte ordering, which is how
regulars eat here. Tabelog diners report ¥20,000–30,000 for the
evening.
The booking reality
Tanabe is not reservation‑only, but reservations come first, and
it opens no book on a fixed day. There are three doors: the
telephone (011‑219‑2202) from about noon on business days, with
English‑speaking staff and same‑day seats when there is room; email
(tanabe@sushi‑tanabe.com) up to two days before the date, for anything
including a seat without a course; and Pocket Concierge or JPNEAZY
for course bookings in English. The house adds a useful note: when the
booking sites show nothing, the phone sometimes still finds a seat. Two
counters of eleven and thirteen and a table room make 36 places, which
is why a Tabelog diner in May 2026 called “just in case” and found
Tanabe “fairly easy to book”; a solo guest in 2025 was welcomed on the
phone. House rules are gentle but real — no strong perfume, no beach
sandals or tracksuits, children from elementary‑school age (the
platforms say seven), photographs only with consideration for
neighbours. Changes and cancellations by the day before; on JPNEAZY
the charge is 100% from three days out and thirty minutes late counts
as a no‑show. Our desk phones in Japanese and books the seat directly,
course or not.
You can book it online yourself, or our Tokyo desk can request it for you. Request this table →
Go if you
Travelers landing in Sapporo who want the city’s serious sushi on the
first night, without a lottery — and anyone who was refused by the
island’s tiny counters and would like a room of 36 that takes the
call.
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.
Sushi Tanabe: common questions
Can you book Sushi Tanabe from abroad?
Yes. Phone with English-speaking staff, email two days ahead, or Pocket Concierge / JPNEAZY; reservations preferred, not required. 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
Cite this page
Facts on this page were checked by our Tokyo desk. You are welcome to quote them with a link:
Sushi Tanabe — Kita 4-jo Nishi 6, Sapporo, Hokkaido — SHOKU NOREN (checked September 2026). https://shokunoren.com/restaurants/sushi-tanabe-sapporo
