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The Best Italian Food in Japan

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The best Italian food in Japan, according to the experts: the Michelin Guide, Gault&Millau, and The 50 have all weighed in, and their honors are what rank this list. Cenci comes out on top, and the good stuff runs deepest in Tokyo.

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Tosara and BOTTEGA hold the next two places. Gault&Millau shows up on more of this list than any other guide, with the Michelin Guide next.

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  1. Rank 1. Cenci

    Italian


    Address
    44-7 Shogoin Entomicho, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto, Kyoto 606-8323, Japan · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6 PM–9:30 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  2. Rank 2. Tosara

    Italian

    No menu, no background music, no decisions to make. Tosara is an Italian-inflected omakase in Nishitemma where the chef tells his childhood on Awaji Island in ten courses, the name of the restaurant being a literal translation of that promise. Lettuce and rice come from his parents' farm, wagyu gets grilled over straw, and everything lands on matte black stoneware thrown by a local potter. It holds a Michelin star.


    Address
    2-7-26 Nishitemma, Kita-ku, Osaka, Osaka 530-0047, Japan
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6 PM–9:30 PM

    Reserve
    TableCheck
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  3. Rank 3. BOTTEGA

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    B1F, 5-17-8 Hiro, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 150-0012, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5 PM

    Wednesday 5 PM–Midnight

    Online
    Website
  4. Rank 3. capi

    Italian

    The awards


  5. Rank 3. DODICI

    Italian

    The awards


  6. Rank 3. FARO

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    10F, 8-8-3 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6 PM–11 PM

    Reserve
    TableCheck
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  7. Rank 3. Germoglio

    Piedmontese

    The awards


  8. The awards


    Address
    4F, 6-6-12 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Open now, until 3 PM

    Wednesday 11:30 AM–3 PM, 5 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    Make a reservation
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  9. Rank 3. P greco

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    4-1-20 Nishitemma, Kita-ku, Osaka, Osaka 530-0047, Japan · Osaka
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–2:30 PM, 5 PM–9:30 PM

    Reserve
    TableCheck
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  10. The menu runs vertically down the page, which feels right for a basement Italian in Shintomicho where the chef folds dashi and Japanese ingredients into Neapolitan technique. He came up running pasta at a celebrated Naples restaurant before opening this one-star spot on his own terms. The result is a tasting-style dinner built around several small pasta courses, with mud walls and a coffered ceiling setting a mood that's neither Tokyo nor Naples, but somewhere quieter than both.

    The awards


  11. Rank 3. shiro

    Italian

    The awards


  12. Rank 3. TAKAYAMA

    Italian

    The awards


  13. Rank 13. a canto

    Italian

    The awards


  14. Rank 13. Vena

    Italian

    The awards


  15. Niko Romito's vegetable soup contains no water, just moisture drawn from the vegetables themselves, which tells you everything about the philosophy at work on the 40th floor of the Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo. This is an Italian fine dining room where the kitchen chases the concentrated essence of each ingredient rather than embellishment. A Michelin star. The crowd tends toward people who researched the reservation months ago and are quietly thrilled they got it.


    Address
    40F, Bvlgari Hotel Tokyo, 2-2-1 Yaesu, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 104-0028, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday 7 AM–10:30 AM, Noon–2:30 PM, 6 PM–9 PM

    Reserve
    TableCheck
    Online
    Website
  16. Rank 16. Prisma

    Italian

    A solo chef running a tightly seated Italian dining room in Minami-Aoyama, where the menu arrives with no prototypes and no compromises. The chef holds himself to a standard where reinvention is the baseline, not the occasional flourish, and the flowers, the music, and the plating all answer to the same scrutiny as the food itself. It holds two Michelin stars, and the room is small enough that he means it.

    The awards


  17. The chef took a one-way ticket to Campania at 21, spent four years there, then came home to his family's farm in Wakayama and opened an Italian restaurant in the middle of it. That context matters, because the produce growing in the surrounding fields, over a hundred varieties, goes straight to the table. It reads like a concept; it runs like a working farm that also happens to serve dinner.


    Address
    71-5 Kawashiri, Iwade, Wakayama 649-6231, Japan · Iwade
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–Midnight

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  18. Rank 18. Da terra

    Italian

    A farmhouse in Asuka, surrounded by the fields that grow most of what lands on the plate, is the setting for this Italian restaurant with a Michelin star. The chef's family cultivates the produce; wheat becomes pasta, rice becomes risotto, and a vividly colored salad called "From the Land" says the quiet part out loud. Set menus move through the seasons in a way that feels less like a tasting menu and more like a nature documentary you can eat.

    The awards


  19. Rank 18. Lega'

    Italian

    An Italian restaurant in rural Nara where the menu is built around a premise: that Piemonte and the Yamato highlands have more to say to each other than you'd expect. The chef trained in northern Italy and now hand-rolls tajarin and agnolotti alongside dishes like venison senbei, a wink at the deer that wander the park nearby. One Michelin star. The name means "bind," which does a lot of quiet work on the plate.

    The awards


  20. Rank 18. YUNiCO

    Contemporary Italian

    The awards




  21. Address
    4-11-13 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Open now, until 3 PM

    Wednesday 11:30 AM–3 PM, 5:30 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    Make a reservation
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  22. Rank 21. LACERBA

    Italian


  23. Rank 21. Merachi

    Italian


    Address
    1-4-23 Nishiazabu, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 106-0031, Japan
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5:30 PM

    Wednesday 5:30 PM–Midnight

    Reserve
    Make a reservation
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  24. Rank 21. Misola

    Italian


    Address
    3-10-38 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–2:30 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    Make a reservation
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  25. Address
    1-8-16 Kitahama, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka 541-0041, Japan · Osaka
    Hours

    Open now, until 2 PM

    Wednesday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 6 PM–8:30 PM

    Reserve
    TableCheck
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  26. Address
    2-12-35 Kitaaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 107-0061, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–1:30 PM, 6 PM–9 PM

    Reserve
    Make a reservation
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  27. Rank 21. Siamo noi

    Italian


  28. Rank 29. ALTER EGO

    Italian



  29. Address
    12 Shibatsukinukecho, Nara, Nara, Nara 630-8385, Japan · Nara
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 6 PM

    Wednesday 6 PM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram
  30. Handmade pasta learned in the kitchens of Piedmont is the anchor at this Italian restaurant in Chuo-ku, where the chef folds Japanese seasonal produce into a northern Italian framework. The name nods to Ristorante Il Centro in Piedmont, where the training happened, and that debt shows in the way farm ingredients get treated with almost personal reverence. The cooking sits somewhere between two regional traditions without feeling confused about which one it is.


  31. The awards


    Address
    64 Honjo, Yurihonjo City, Akita 015-0809, Japan · Yurihonjo City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–1 PM, 6 PM–8 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  32. The awards


    Address
    1-9-15 Shin-yashiki, Kumamoto City, Kumamoto 862-0975, Japan · Kumamoto City
    Hours

    Open now, until 1 PM

    Wednesday 11:30 AM–1 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  33. Rank 32. Bini

    Italian

    The awards


  34. Rank 32. ca'enne

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    10222-25 Toyohirajitougaku, Chino City, Nagano 391-0213, Japan · Chino City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–2 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    Website
  35. The awards


  36. The awards


  37. Rank 32. Convivio

    Italian

    The awards


  38. The awards


  39. Rank 32. essere

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    2-13-1 Kitakutamachi, Okayama City, Okayama 700-0825, Japan · Okayama City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  40. Rank 32. FRUTTO

    Italian

    The awards


  41. Rank 32. Hirovanna

    Italian

    The awards


  42. Rank 32. il AOYAMA

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    1-17-38 Tokugawa, Nagoya City, Aichi 461-0025, Japan · Nagoya City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5:30 PM

    Wednesday 5:30 PM–8 PM

  43. Rank 32. IL Lato

    Italian

    The awards


  44. Rank 32. itsuki

    Italian

    The awards


  45. Rank 32. IZA

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    11-13 Onarimachi, Kamakura City, Kanagawa 248-0012, Japan · Kamakura City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3:30 PM, 6 PM–9:30 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  46. The awards


    Address
    4239-1 Takeocho Oazatakeo, Takeo City, Saga 843-0022, Japan · Takeo City
    Hours

    Open now, until 2 PM

    Wednesday 11:30 AM–2 PM, 6 PM–8:30 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  47. Rank 32. kate cuore

    Italian

    The awards


  48. Rank 32. Kii

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    242 Kugikakushicho, Kyoto City, Kyoto 600-8423, Japan · Kyoto City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  49. Rank 32. Kitanozaka Kinoshita

    Modern Italian

    The awards


    Address
    1-24-14 Chuuoukunakayamatedoori, Kobe City, Hyogo 650-0004, Japan · Kobe City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–2:30 PM, 6 PM–8:30 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  50. Rank 32. KOKAJIYA

    Italian

    The awards


  51. The awards


  52. Rank 32. logue

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    599 Usacho Ryu, Tosa City, Kochi 781-1165, Japan · Tosa City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–2:30 PM, 6 PM–9:30 PM

    Online
    Website
  53. Rank 32. MEI

    Italian

    The awards


  54. The awards


  55. The awards


  56. The awards


  57. The awards


  58. The awards


    Address
    1 Teinekuinaho, Sapporo City, Hokkaido 006-0031, Japan · Sapporo City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–2 PM, 6 PM–9 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  59. Rank 32. PERTORNARE

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    71 Fukuhara, Kamikatsu Town, Tokushima 771-4501, Japan · Kamikatsu Town
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    Website
  60. The awards


    Address
    2-3 Shirogane, Sakura City, Chiba 285-0045, Japan · Sakura City
    Hours

    Open now, until 2:30 PM

    Wednesday 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    Instagram
  61. Rank 32. RISPETTO

    Italian

    The awards


  62. The awards


    Address
    2 Chuuoukuminami, Sapporo City, Hokkaido 060-0062, Japan · Sapporo City
    Hours

    Open now, until 1 PM

    Wednesday 11:30 AM–1 PM, 6 PM–8 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  63. The awards


  64. The awards


  65. The awards


    Address
    2-6-12 Komachi, Kamakura City, Kanagawa 248-0006, Japan · Kamakura City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–2 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    Website
  66. The awards


  67. The awards


    Address
    2-20 Takezono, Tsukuba City, Ibaraki 305-0032, Japan · Tsukuba City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  68. Rank 32. Ryobo

    Italian

    The awards


  69. Rank 32. sai

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    2-8-17 Chiyoda, Nagoya City, Aichi 460-0012, Japan · Nagoya City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6:30 PM–10:30 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  70. Rank 32. Scino

    Italian

    The awards


  71. Rank 32. SEMPRE

    Italian

    The awards


  72. Rank 32. Senti.U

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    587 Shinkawamachi, Kanoya City, Kagoshima 893-0015, Japan · Kanoya City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–1:30 PM, 6 PM–8 PM

  73. Rank 32. Settanta

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    1-15-23 Izumi, Nagoya City, Aichi 461-0001, Japan · Nagoya City
    Hours

    Open now, until 2:30 PM

    Wednesday 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  74. Rank 32. Simples

    Italian

    The awards


  75. The awards


    Address
    2-8-7 Izumi, Nagoya City, Aichi 461-0001, Japan · Nagoya City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 6 PM

    Wednesday 6 PM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram
  76. Rank 32. SYMPOSIUM

    Italian

    The awards


  77. Rank 32. TACUBO

    Italian

    The awards


  78. Rank 32. TAKAO

    Italian

    The awards


  79. Rank 32. Totto

    Italian

    The awards


    Address
    4-6-7 Kakazu, Ginowan City, Okinawa 901-2226, Japan · Ginowan City
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 7 PM

    Wednesday 7 PM–Midnight

    Online
    Instagram
  80. Rank 32. Ushimaru

    Italian

    The awards


  81. Rank 32. VENTINOVE

    Italian

    The awards


  82. The awards


  83. The awards


  84. Rank 85. AlCeppo

    Italian

    The menu at this Italian restaurant in Shirokane changes not by whim but by compass: southern fish and olive oil dishes run through summer, then the kitchen pivots north come autumn, leaning into mushrooms and braised game. The chef mapped those regions personally, and the seasonal logic is tight enough that returning twice in one year feels like two different restaurants. A Michelin Bib Gourmand, and a genuinely useful one.

    The awards


  85. Rank 85. AUDACE

    Italian

    The awards


  86. Rank 85. BRAMASOLE

    Italian

    The awards


  87. Rank 85. falò

    Italian

    The counter wraps around a live hearth, so you watch the chef throw charcoal, tend the fire, and coax things back to life in real time, which is dinner and theater without the self-consciousness of either. This basement Italian in Daikanyama earns a Michelin Bib Gourmand on the strength of wood fire and restraint: porchetta cooked low and slow, fish done in straw, vegetables tucked into foil and nudged toward the flame.

    The awards


  88. Rank 85. Gigio

    Italian

    The awards


  89. The awards


  90. Charcoal is the whole philosophy here, with the chef letting heat and good ingredients do the arguing rather than technique. The name just means "the place," which tells you everything about the mood: a casual Italian trattoria in Osaka where lunch is a simple pasta and evenings open into à la carte dishes that roam across regions. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand. Nothing is fussed with more than it needs to be.

    The awards


  91. The awards


  92. Rank 85. Lapintaika

    Italian

    The awards


  93. Rank 85. Macauda

    Seafood Italian

    The awards


    Address
    2-1-3 Tokiwamachi, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka 540-0028, Japan
    Hours

    Closed now, opens 5:30 PM

    Wednesday 5:30 PM–10:30 PM

    Reserve
    Make a reservation
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  94. The awards


  95. The awards


  96. Rank 85. PIZZERIA TRATTORIA MAGAZZINO

    Neapolitan Pizzeria

    The awards


  97. Rank 85. PRESTAU

    Modern Italian

    The awards


    Address
    2-17-17 Shimmachi, Nishi-ku, Osaka, Osaka 550-0013, Japan · Osaka
    Hours

    Closed now, opens noon

    Wednesday Noon–3 PM, 6 PM–10 PM

    Reserve
    TableCheck
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  98. Seafood couscous on the menu is the first signal that this is Sicilian cooking, not mainland Italian. The chef has built a small, earnest trattoria around the food of an island where Arab, Greek, and Norman kitchens all left fingerprints, and the recipes stay faithful to that layered tradition. The Michelin Guide awarded it a Bib Gourmand, and the crowd tends to run homesick and serious about the source material.

    The awards


  99. Rank 85. Trattoria Buca'Massimo

    Tuscan Trattoria

    The awards


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Eat Score

The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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    The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

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      Four fifths of the score is the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin Key outweighs a listicle. The last fifth is where it is: the ranked places to eat and things to do around it, and how safe the country is. When you sort by what's nearby, distance from you changes the order, never the score.

        How we score →

        Do Score

        The score comes from the awards it's won, weighted by who gave them: a Michelin star outweighs a listicle. When you sort by what's nearby, distance changes the order, never the score.

          How we score →

          Best Place Score

          The Best Place Score rates the area around a point, not any one place. The places are 60% of it: the best of what's within reach, weighed by distance. The setting is the other 40%: how life goes in that country (how people rate their own lives, how long and how well they live, how safe they are) and what it's like right there (the air, and the weather). If the score looks low, we probably haven't found enough critics out here yet.

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