Japan restaurant reservations for foreign visitors

The problem, stated plainly

A counter with eight seats and one chef has no host and no reservations manager. The chef answers the phone between services. There is no booking platform, no English page and no email address — and there does not need to be, because the system works perfectly for the regulars it was built for.

Which means the tables people travel to Japan for are, from abroad, effectively invisible.

What gets done for you

• The call, in Japanese, from a Japanese number — which is what most phone-only restaurants require
• Timed to the booking window — many places open reservations on a fixed date each month, at a fixed hour, for two months ahead
• Confirmed in your name — you are the customer; I am not reselling a table
• Dietary requirements communicated at booking, in Japanese, when they can still be accommodated
• Cancellation terms explained before you commit — they are real, and often 100 per cent
• Alternatives held where a first choice is unlikely

How many to book

Fewer than people expect. For a two-week trip I book three or four meals that matter and deliberately leave the rest open.

Japan rewards wandering into an unremarkable-looking place more than almost any country. A schedule with a fixed table every night removes the best thing about eating here. What is worth locking is the eight-seat counter, the kaiseki room and the birthday dinner — the ones that genuinely cannot be improvised.

Lunch is the underused answer

The same chef, the same counter, a shorter menu, frequently half the price — and considerably easier to secure. For a first visit, lunch somewhere excellent beats dinner somewhere merely good, and it leaves the evening free.

The rules once you have the table

• Arrive on time. At a counter, service starts when everyone is seated.
• Cancellation fees are charged, often in full within a few days of the date.
• No strong scent. At a sushi counter this genuinely matters.
• No tipping. Anywhere. It is not expected and causes awkwardness.

The full guide to booking restaurants in Japan covers the four tiers of restaurant and which routes work for each.