Restaurants for a Golf Trip to Japan

Izakaya

A charcoal-grill izakaya run by a local couple that has fed Hirafu for decades — long before Niseko became an international resort. Yakitori, sashimi and local-farm vegetables.

Ramen

One of Hakodate's oldest ramen houses (1950), serving the city's signature clear shio ramen and wontons in classic style, ignoring modern ramen trends entirely.

Jingisukan

Started in 1954 by a widow feeding five children, this cramped Susukino counter defined Sapporo-style jingisukan: raw mutton grilled over a domed skillet with a house sauce unchanged for 70 years.

Sushi / Omakase

Founded 1971, its master Tsutomu Shimamiya is a government-honored 'Contemporary Master Craftsman' who brought Edo-style technique to Hokkaido's peerless seafood. The Maruyama main counter is widely held as Sapporo's benchmark sushi.

Yakitori

Chef Toshihiro Wada's Ginza counter, open since 1987 and Michelin-starred since 2010, elevated yakitori into fine dining using prized Okukuji shamo chicken grilled over binchotan.

Kaiseki

Chef Toru Okuda's intimate Ginza kaiseki, long a Michelin-starred reference point for modern Edo-Tokyo kaiseki built on impeccable seasonal sourcing and quiet precision.

Soba

Open since 1880 and one of the great names of Tokyo soba; rebuilt after a 2013 fire, it still serves elegant hand-cut buckwheat in a refined courtyard setting that helped define the modern soba restaurant.

Dojo (Edo specialty)

Established in 1801, this Asakusa landmark has served dojo (loach) hotpot the same way through fires and generations; eating at its low communal floor tables is one of the most authentic surviving Edo dining experiences.

Ramen

A tiny Minami-Otsuka counter that held a Michelin star from 2017 to 2023 and now sits in the Bib Gourmand; its layered sesame-and-chili tantanmen is among Tokyo's most celebrated bowls.

Unagi

Roughly 200 years old and now run by its fifth generation, Nodaiwa is Tokyo's benchmark for wild-style unagi, slow-grilled over charcoal and served in a beautiful old kura-timbered setting near Tokyo Tower.

Tempura

Said to be Japan's oldest tempura restaurant, founded in 1837 right beside Asakusa's Kaminarimon; famed for kakiage and an old-Edo style fried in fragrant sesame oil.

Sushi / Omakase

Opened by Shinji Kanesaka in 2000 and a two-Michelin-star stalwart of the Ginza sushi scene; Kanesaka received Michelin's Mentor Chef award in 2025 for shaping a generation of Tokyo sushi.

Sushi / Omakase

Founded by legend Keiji Nakazawa in 1989, this Yotsuya counter pioneered the alternating nigiri-and-tsumami omakase format now copied citywide; carried on by successor Keita Katsumata, it remains a pilgrimage for serious sushi people.

Yoshoku / Oyakodon

Founded in 1760 as a poultry house, Tamahide is the acknowledged birthplace of oyakodon and one of Tokyo's oldest restaurants, still serving its Edo-era chicken-and-egg rice in Ningyocho.

Yoshida Udon

One of Fujiyoshida's defining Yoshida-udon houses, open since 1981, serving the famously firm, thick hand-cut noodles in a miso-soy broth with cabbage and horse meat — everyday food born from the town's textile-mill era.

Soba

Founded 1934 in Hakone-Yumoto, Hatsuhana invented jinenjo (wild yam) soba bound with grated yam and egg instead of water in the postwar years — the originator of a dish now copied across Japan, served in an old riverside building.

Hoto

A 1934 mountain-pass teahouse where the novelist Dazai Osamu lodged for two months and wrote 'One Hundred Views of Mt Fuji'; serves miso hoto with one of the most storied Fuji-and-lake panoramas in Japan, plus a small Dazai literary room upstairs.

Unagi

Founded 1976 at the Hakone gateway of Kazamatsuri, Tomoei rests its prized 'blue eel' in pure local spring water before grilling; it held a Michelin star four years running (2012-2015) and is considered among Japan's finest unagi.

Soba

Founded 1870, Kagimotoya traces back to an Edo-period merchant inn on the Nakasendo highway; its handmade Shinshu soba uses Naka-Karuizawa's pristine water and is prized for robust, aromatic noodles.

Soba

On Old Karuizawa's historic Ginza street, Kawakami-an carries the Edo tradition of soba-shop drinking — freshly milled, hand-cut buckwheat with seasonal dishes and good sake in a serene setting.

Kaiseki

Built in 1903 as the Nara governor's guesthouse and hidden deep in the primeval forest behind Kasuga Taisha, Tsukihitei serves seasonal kaiseki to a tiny number of guests and has hosted the Imperial Family — a serene, secret retreat unlike anything in the city.

Soba

Established in 1688, this soba house serves handmade noodles in homemade broth from a beautifully restored machiya with a central courtyard, famous for nishin-soba (herring soba) and the table-cooked one-pot 'hokoro' — a true taste of old Kyoto.

Yudofu

Founded in 1635 beside Nanzenji temple as a rest stop for pilgrims, Okutan is Kyoto's oldest tofu house, still making fresh yudofu daily in a rustic thatched-roof setting among temple gardens — a pure expression of Zen simplicity.

Obanzai

Open since 1939 along the Takase River, Menami is a beloved obanzai counter where seasonal Kyoto home-style dishes are laid out in big bowls along the bar — the genuine article for obanzai, Kyoto comfort cooking refined over 80-plus years.

Unagi

Tucked down a private walkway near Osaka Castle, Yoshitora has served some of the city's most sublime charcoal-grilled eel since 1922 — tender steamed-then-grilled unagi brushed with sweet-salty tare in refined traditional rooms.

Sushi (Hakozushi)

Founded in 1841 in Senba and run by the seventh generation of the founding family, Yoshino Sushi is the birthplace of hakozushi (Osaka pressed box sushi); its jewel-box pieces of shrimp, sea bream and shiitake are a living piece of culinary history.

Yakitori

The definitive Hakata torikawa specialist: chicken-skin skewers grilled and rested over six days until buttery and crisp. The benchmark for Fukuoka's signature yakitori style.

Kurobuta Shabu-shabu

Founded 1978 in Tenmonkan, Ajimori invented kurobuta shabu-shabu and helped revive Kagoshima's black pork — served its own way, in broth with egg rather than ponzu.

Toriten

Oita's first Western-style restaurant (1926) and the birthplace of toriten — fried chicken inspired by Chinese cuisine. Just celebrated its 100th anniversary under the founding family's fourth generation.

Mizutaki

Founded 1905, Suigetsu literally invented Hakata mizutaki — its founder fused Western consommé and Chinese chicken-soup technique. Now in its third generation, it has deliberately never opened a branch.