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The Best Places to Eat and Do in Japan

Eat + Do, change section
  1. The awards


  2. Rank 1146. wavie

    French

    The name blends the Japanese "wa" (harmony) with the French "vie" (life), and the kitchen takes that fusion seriously rather than just decorating French technique with a few local garnishes. This prix fixe restaurant in Ukyo-ku builds its menu around Kyoto-area ingredients, with herb-fermented vegetables lending an earthy depth and wine-and-cream sauces keeping things clearly on the French side of the hyphen.

    The awards


  3. Rank 1146. xiang hua

    Chinese

    The awards


  4. A second-floor yakitori counter in Motoazabu built around a single obsession: Tamba-Sasayama chicken, raised locally and taken seriously. The chef pairs skewers with wine rather than beer or sake, and it works, particularly seared breast with Guérande salt and liver glazed with balsamic. The name translates loosely as a ray of sunshine on Darkness Hill, which is either poetic or a lot of pressure for a chicken restaurant.

    The awards


  5. The awards


    Address
    3-5-1 Minato, Chuo-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 104-0043, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Open now, until 10:30 PM

    Friday 6 PM–10:30 PM

    Online
    Website
  6. A basement yakitori counter where the chef's fixation on Kyotamba chicken shapes every skewer. Many pieces are wrapped in skin to draw out the fat's flavor, and the kitchen borrows moves from Japanese cuisine, marinating chicken in kombu broth or folding it into meatballs with takikomi-gohan rice. The cleverest trick: skewers laid over vegetables as they grill, the vegetables quietly soaking up everything dripping from above.

    The awards


  7. A yakitori counter where the chef ages free-range Kagoshima chickens before they ever hit the grill, coaxing out a depth you don't usually expect from a skewer joint. Beyond the standard salt and tare, he brushes each stick with a fragrant oil he makes himself. The menu weaves in soups and fried chicken dishes between rounds, and closes with rice from earthenware pots or a bowl of chicken broth ramen, which is a graceful way to end.

    The awards


    Address
    1-4-17 Tohei, Chuo-ku, Osaka, Osaka 542-0063, Japan
    Hours

    Closes soon, 8 PM, in 42 min

    Friday 6 PM–8 PM, 8:30 PM–10:30 PM

    Reserve
    TableCheck
    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  8. The awards


  9. Rank 1146. Yakitori Mochizuki

    Yakitori Japanese

    The awards


  10. Rank 1146. YAKITORI Moe es

    Yakitori Japanese

    The awards


  11. The awards


  12. Rank 1146. Yakitori Omino

    Yakitori Japanese

    A U-shaped counter wraps around a live charcoal grill at this yakitori counter near Oshiage, where the kitchen staff call out to each other like a well-drilled team. Chunky skewers of named-breed chicken go over high flame, and the chef leans toward salt over sauce, letting the meat do the talking. The room smells exactly like you want it to, and the skewers disappear faster than you planned for.

    The awards


  13. Rank 1146. Yassan

    Japanese

    Calabashes hang from the rafters here, a nod to the founding chef's habit of drinking sake from gourds, and the counter fills the moment the shop curtain goes up outside. This is a meat kappo, meaning an intimate counter meal built around beef offal and cuts, handled with quiet precision. Staff still call tongue "Zunge" and heart "Herz," a house code that traces back to the German physicians who were once its regulars and apparently never left.

    The awards


  14. Rank 1146. YAUMAY

    Dim Sum Chinese

    The awards


  15. Rank 1146. Yiwanshui

    Chinese

    The sign out front says "set menu" in Chinese, which tells you exactly what you're in for. Yiwanshui is a small Chinese home-cooking spot in Nishi-ku where the kitchen keeps the oil light and lets familiar ingredients do the talking. The lunch spread arrives as a colorful nine-dish appetizer platter, the kind of meal that feels restorative rather than showy. The sort of place where regulars stop thinking of it as a restaurant.

    The awards


  16. Rank 1146. Yoshitaka

    Oden Japanese

    Oden is Japan's great underestimated comfort food, and Yoshitaka treats it with the precision of kaiseki, serving each piece one at a time in its own distinct dish. The dashi here draws on Osaka's old kombu-merchant heritage, and toppings like dried kombu shavings or ground sesame nudge familiar flavors somewhere new. The meal closes with ramen or peppered rice in the Edo style, which is a satisfying way to end something that never quite announces itself as a special occasion dinner but quietly is.

    The awards


  17. The awards


  18. Rank 1146. Youshoku Ogata

    Yoshoku Japanese

    Yoshoku, the old Western-influenced Japanese comfort food, gets counter-style kappo treatment here, with the chef cooking and chatting in equal measure. Deep-fried horse mackerel, hamburger steak, and sautéed pork are the crowd pleasers, but the sauces carry the fingerprints of a French kitchen. Ingredients travel in from a Shiga butcher, a Shizuoka fishmonger, and a Kyoto farmer, which is a lot of logistics for what is, lovingly, a plate of comfort food.

    The awards


  19. Rank 1146. Yugetsu

    Japanese

    The menu arrives handwritten in the chef's own brushwork, which sets the tone for an izakaya that takes its craft seriously without losing the easy warmth the format demands. Seasonal sake pairs naturally with dishes built around small surprises, and shochu comes blended and rested before it reaches you. The vessels are made by artisans, the service is run by a couple who clearly communicate, and the name, meaning glaze and moon, says the rest.

    The awards


  20. A Sichuan-rooted restaurant in Nogizaka where the restrained seasoning is a philosophy, not an oversight: the chef pulls back on the heat so the farm-direct vegetables can actually say something. The name means "ties" or "connections," and that idea runs through everything, from the producers supplying the kitchen to the warm-hearted front-of-house who makes the room feel like someone's home. Seasonal menus keep honest time with the Japanese calendar.


    Address
    1-23-12 Minamiaoyama, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Tokyo 107-0062, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Open now, until 11 PM

    Friday 11:30 AM–3 PM, 6 PM–11 PM

  21. Rank 1146. Yuyu

    Japanese

    Sashimi arrives with Daitokuji natto instead of soy sauce, which tells you something about the kitchen's appetite for a quiet left turn. Yuyu is a Japanese dinner restaurant named for a phrase about living free of worldly cares, and the format follows through: à la carte only, no rush. Beef tongue comes in a white miso that resembles a stew, and the final course lets you pick your own ending, rice, noodles, curry, or otherwise.

    The awards


  22. Rank 1146. Zucchero

    Seafood Italian

    The awards


  23. Rank 1623. pizza marumo

    Tokyo-style Pizzeria

    The charred crust here pulls like freshly grilled mochi, which tells you something about where this pizza fits in the world. It's a sit-down pizza restaurant in Ebisu run by a chef who came up in traditional Japanese kitchens and decided neither Naples nor Rome quite covered what he was after. The menu runs from familiar classics to pies topped with katsuobushi or soy-marinated tofu, where the comfort is Japanese even when the shape is Italian.


  24. Rank 1624. MASSIMOTTAVIO

    Italian Pizzeria

    Anime figurines and actual artwork line the walls of this two-floor pizzeria in quiet Eifukucho, a neighborhood that feels a world away from central Tokyo. The chef, Massimo, has spent decades making pizza in Japan and the pies here run generously sized, which is its own kind of statement in this city. Italian wines and a full menu of pasta, secondi, and desserts round things out for anyone who arrives hungry enough to go the distance.


    Address
    4 Chome-4-4 Eifuku, Suginami City, Tokyo 168-0064, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Open now, until 10 PM

    Friday 11:30 AM–2:30 PM, 5:30 PM–10 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram
  25. Rank 1624. Pizzeria da Ciro

    Neapolitan Pizzeria

    Tucked between temples in Sakyo Ward, this Neapolitan pizza spot is run by a chef who trained in Naples and sources his ingredients strictly from Campania. The pies run larger than the Japanese norm, soft and light in the way that only a wood-fired dough done right can manage. The room is small and familiar, the staff attentive, and an Italian beer alongside is not a bad idea. It ranked 36th in 50 Top Pizza Asia-Pacific.


  26. Rank 1624. TONCINI

    Pizzeria

    An Italian chef running a proper Italian restaurant in snowy Tomakomai, and yet the pizza is built around Hokkaido's local produce rather than any nostalgic recreation of the homeland. The dough is soft and the menu runs well past pizza into pasta, secondi, and Italian desserts, with a wine list that spans the whole peninsula. It ranked 49th on 50 Top Pizza's Asia-Pacific list, which is an unexpected thing to say about a town famous for its snowfall.







  27. Rank 1630. graf

    Coffee







  28. Address
    106-2 Yaoyachō, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, 604-8072, Japan · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 9 AM

    Friday 11 AM–6 PM

    Online
    Instagram



  29. The roasting happens on-site, so the smell hits you before the door does. This specialty coffee cafe from the Australian-born Single O group sits in Ryogoku, a neighborhood better known for sumo than pour-overs, which gives it a pleasantly unpretentious edge. The space is spare and deliberate, the kind of room that makes you want to sit quietly and pay attention to what's in your cup.


  30. A towering Mahlkönig grinder dominates the counter of this quiet Tomigaya coffee bar, which is the whole thesis statement in one piece of equipment. The room looks too spare to sit in until you realize it isn't, and then you stay. Single-origin espresso is the move, pulled with the kind of unhurried focus that makes the surrounding neighborhood noise feel irrelevant.






  31. Address
    Japan, 〒600-8487 京都府京都市下京区橘町31 · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 7:30 AM

    Friday 7:30 AM–3 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  32. Address
    2-chōme-16-3 Ginza, Chuo City, Tokyo 104-0061, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 10 AM

    Friday 10 AM–5 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram





  33. Address
    6 223 Koyamachō, Kita Ward, Kyoto, 603-8152, Japan · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 9 AM

    Friday 9 AM–5 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram

  34. Address
    17-7 Ikedachō, Kita Ward, Osaka, 530-0033, Japan · Osaka
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 9 AM

    Friday 9 AM–6 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  35. Address
    2-chōme-2-18 Edobori, Nishi Ward, Osaka, 550-0002, Japan · Osaka
    Hours

    Closes soon, 7:30 PM, in 12 min

    Friday 11 AM–7:30 PM

    Online
    Instagram






  36. Address
    51 Kameyacho, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, 600-8451, Japan · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 9 AM

    Friday 9 AM–5 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram


  37. Address
    1-chōme-2-2 Momoi, Suginami City, Tokyo 167-0034, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 8:30 AM

    Friday 8:30 AM–7 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram




  38. Address
    1-chōme-13-8 Hirano, Koto City, Tokyo 135-0023, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 10 AM

    Friday 10 AM–5 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram




  39. A New York roaster that planted a flag in Osaka's quieter Kitahama district, this specialty coffee shop leans into minimalist design and natural light in a way that makes laptops appear almost as often as flat whites. The pour-overs get the attention they deserve, and the baristas can actually explain why. A good place to remember that Osaka has neighborhoods where nothing is especially loud.





  40. Address
    1-chōme-18-9 Gōtokuji, Setagaya City, Tokyo 154-0021, Japan · Tokyo
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 9 AM

    Friday 8:30 AM–6 PM

    Online
    Instagram
  41. Rank 1664. Kaikado

    Coffee


    Address
    352 Sumiyoshichō, Shimogyo Ward, Kyoto, 600-8143, Japan · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 8 AM

    Friday 8 AM–5:30 PM

    Online
    Instagram

  42. Address
    551 Yamanakachō, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, 604-0815, Japan · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 10 AM

    Friday 10 AM–6 PM

    Online
    WebsiteInstagram



  43. Address
    382-3 Mogamichō, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, 604-8303, Japan · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 11 AM

    Friday 11 AM–6 PM

    Online
    Instagram




  44. Rank 1664. Sniite

    Coffee




  45. Address
    7-chōme-6-9 Takadono, Asahi-ku, Osaka, 535-0031, Japan · Osaka
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 10 AM

    Friday 10 AM–5 PM

    Online
    Instagram
  46. Rank 1688. Aidaya

    Japanese Noodle Shop


  47. Rank 1688. Alt

    Coffee


    Address
    28-4 Shinsenenchō, Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto, 604-8371, Japan · Kyoto
    Hours

    Closed now, opens Sat 11 AM

    Friday 11 AM–6 PM

    Online
    Instagram





  48. Rank 1688. Kagura-ya

    Japanese Noodle Shop


  49. Rank 1688. Kissa Ray

    Coffee



  50. Rank 1688. Kushiwakamaru

    Yakitori Japanese




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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.

    How we score →

    Drink 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 →

      Stay Score

      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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