# Where to eat sushi in Tokyo: kaiten, counters, markets

The best sushi in Tokyo runs from plates on a conveyor belt at little more than 100 yen to a chef's counter booked weeks ahead, and both can be very good. Tokyo's own style, Edomae sushi, grew up on fish from the bay that was cured in vinegar, simmered or marinated in soy before it met the rice. This page compares the ways to eat it, how booking really works and the manners that matter, and the short list of sushi events below is updated daily.

## Kaiten-zushi: the easy start

Kaiten-zushi, conveyor-belt sushi, is where most Tokyo families eat sushi, and the big chains are good value: Sushiro, Kura Sushi, Hama Sushi and Uobei, where orders arrive on fast straight lanes instead of a rotating belt. Basic plates at these chains start at a little over 100 yen, pricier plates are shown on the screen, and branches in central Tokyo can cost more than suburban ones. You order on a touch screen at your seat, which switches to English and other languages, and the plate comes to you on an express lane. Since a wave of prank videos in 2023, many chains run only ordered plates on the belt, so the screen is the normal way to order.

Each seat has a hot water tap and green tea powder (a spoonful per cup), pickled ginger, soy sauce and wasabi. Kura Sushi has you drop empty plates into a slot in the table, and every five plates you get a chance at a small prize on the screen. For better fish at belt prices, Nemuro Hanamaru, a chain from Hokkaido, has a branch in [KITTE Marunouchi](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=KITTE%E4%B8%B8%E3%81%AE%E5%86%85%20%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E5%8D%83%E4%BB%A3%E7%94%B0%E5%8C%BA%E4%B8%B8%E3%81%AE%E5%86%852-7-2&query_place_id=ChIJdUbpSvqLGGARCmbc6R7hZJ8) by Tokyo Station: take a numbered ticket at the entrance and expect a wait at meal times.

- When you finish, press the bill button (okaikei) on the screen and pay at the register or a self-checkout.
- Avoid 12:00 to 13:00 and weekend evenings, or book a time in the chain's app where it offers one.

- → [Tokyo with kids](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/kids.md)
- → [Tokyo on a budget: free things to do](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/budget.md)
- → [Food & Drink events in Tokyo](https://eventstokyo.com/en/food-drink.md)

## Standing sushi and counter lunches

Standing sushi bars (tachigui) sit near big stations. Chains such as Uogashi Nihon-ichi have branches in Shibuya, Shinjuku and other hubs: you stand at the counter, order one or two pieces at a time from the chef, eat in fifteen or twenty minutes and pay at the end. Prices are per piece, so you eat as much or as little as you like, and it is the cheapest way to have a chef make sushi in front of you.

The other good-value trick is lunch. Many sit-down sushi counters, including well-known ones in Ginza and around Tsukiji, serve a set of nigiri at lunch for a few thousand yen, far less than their dinner courses. Some take bookings only for dinner and seat lunch guests as they arrive, so go early. Ordering piece by piece instead of a set is called okonomi; at a small counter, ask what is good today: kyou no osusume wa.

- → [Going to events alone in Tokyo](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/solo.md)
- → [Ginza, Yurakucho and Hibiya: events and tips](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/ginza.md)
- → [Events in Chuo](https://eventstokyo.com/en/chuo.md)

## Omakase: how booking really works

At a top counter the chef serves omakase, a course of pieces chosen that day and served in a set order to a handful of guests, and dinner usually costs tens of thousands of yen per person. The best-known places are fully booked well ahead. Visitors usually book through reservation sites that work in English, such as OMAKASE, TableCheck and Pocket Concierge, or through their hotel concierge, and some counters release seats on their own websites.

Read the rules before you pay. Booking windows often open at a fixed time, a week or a month ahead, and popular seats go within minutes. Sites may charge a small reservation fee per seat, and cancellation fees are steep and staged: half the price a few days before and the full price on the day are common. A credit card secures the booking (debit cards are often discouraged), some counters check ID and turn away anyone who is not the person who booked, and a few accept foreign guests only with someone who understands Japanese.

- Tell the restaurant about allergies and foods you don't eat when you book, not when you sit down.
- Arrive on time. At many counters the course starts for everyone together.
- Skip strong perfume, and ask before you take photos.

- → [Ginza, Yurakucho and Hibiya: events and tips](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/ginza.md)
- → [Date ideas in Tokyo, built around events](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/date-ideas.md)

## Sushi at Tsukiji and Toyosu

For sushi with the market around you, go in the morning. The [Tsukiji Outer Market](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=%E7%AF%89%E5%9C%B0%E5%A0%B4%E5%A4%96%E5%B8%82%E5%A0%B4%20%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E4%B8%AD%E5%A4%AE%E5%8C%BA%E7%AF%89%E5%9C%B04%E4%B8%81%E7%9B%AE) has small sushi counters and seafood bowl shops that open early and close by early afternoon, and many shops rest on Sundays, holidays and some Wednesdays. [Toyosu Market](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=%E8%B1%8A%E6%B4%B2%E5%B8%82%E5%A0%B4%20%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E6%B1%9F%E6%9D%B1%E5%8C%BA%E8%B1%8A%E6%B4%B26-6-1), where the wholesale market moved in 2018, has 39 restaurants inside the market buildings, including [Sushi Dai](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=%E5%AF%BF%E5%8F%B8%E5%A4%A7%20%E8%B1%8A%E6%B4%B2%E5%B8%82%E5%A0%B4%20%E6%B0%B4%E7%94%A3%E4%BB%B2%E5%8D%B8%E5%A3%B2%E5%A0%B4%E6%A3%9F%20%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E6%B1%9F%E6%9D%B1%E5%8C%BA%E8%B1%8A%E6%B4%B26%E4%B8%81%E7%9B%AE) in the fish wholesale building and [Daiwa Sushi](https://www.google.com/maps/search/?api=1&query=%E5%A4%A7%E5%92%8C%E5%AF%BF%E5%8F%B8%20%E8%B1%8A%E6%B4%B2%E5%B8%82%E5%A0%B4%20%E6%9D%B1%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E6%B1%9F%E6%9D%B1%E5%8C%BA%E8%B1%8A%E6%B4%B26-3-1) in the fruit and vegetable building.

Those two are famous for queues that start early in the morning and can last hours, while other counters in the same buildings serve similar fish with much shorter waits. Visitors can enter the market from 5:00 to 17:00, but most restaurants close by early afternoon, and they close on market holidays, mostly Wednesdays, Sundays and public holidays. Check the calendar on the [official site](https://www.toyosu-market.or.jp/eating-place/) before you go.

- → [Tsukiji Outer Market: food, mornings and old Tsukiji](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/tsukiji.md)
- → [Toyosu Market: tuna auction, sushi and visiting tips](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/toyosu-market.md)
- → [Events in Chuo](https://eventstokyo.com/en/chuo.md)
- → [Events in Koto](https://eventstokyo.com/en/koto.md)

## Etiquette: soy sauce, ginger and hands

Nigiri can be eaten with your fingers or with chopsticks; both are normal. Tip the piece over and dip the fish, not the rice, lightly in soy sauce, and eat it in one bite if you can. At a counter the chef has usually put wasabi under the fish and often brushed on sauce already, so skip the soy dish, and do not stir wasabi into it. Pickled ginger (gari) clears your palate between pieces; it is not a topping, and you pick it up with chopsticks.

Eat each piece soon after it is set down, while the rice is still slightly warm. At kaiten shops, never put a plate back on the belt once you have taken it, and take only your own order from the express lane. At a small counter, ask before photographing the chef or other guests. Tipping is not done.

- Say what you can't eat at the start: hikarimono wa taberaremasen (no silver-skinned fish), for example.
- Sushi-making classes in Tokyo teach you to shape nigiri yourself, a good plan for a rainy day.

- → [Tokyo etiquette for visitors: the rules that matter](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/etiquette.md)
- → [What to do in Tokyo when it rains](https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/rainy-day.md)
- → [Food & Drink events in Tokyo](https://eventstokyo.com/en/food-drink.md)

## All events, soonest first

No matching events found.

Organisers haven't announced this season's events yet. They will appear here as soon as they do.

## Questions people ask

**Where can I eat good cheap sushi in Tokyo?**
Conveyor-belt chains such as Sushiro, Kura Sushi, Hama Sushi and Uobei, and standing sushi bars near big stations. Lunch sets at sit-down counters are the cheapest way into better restaurants.

**Is conveyor belt sushi in Tokyo easy without Japanese?**
Yes. The big chains use touch screens that switch to English and other languages, and plates come straight to your seat.

**Do I need a reservation for sushi in Tokyo?**
Not for conveyor-belt or standing sushi. For well-known omakase counters you do, often weeks ahead through booking sites or a hotel concierge, and cancellation fees are strict.

**How much does omakase sushi cost in Tokyo?**
Dinner at a well-known counter usually costs tens of thousands of yen per person, and lunch at the same places is often much cheaper. Booking sites show the course price before you pay.

**Is it rude to eat sushi with your hands?**
No. Fingers and chopsticks are both fine for nigiri. Wipe your fingers on the wet towel, and use chopsticks for sashimi and ginger.

**Is it worth queuing for Sushi Dai at Toyosu?**
Only if you enjoy the queue as part of the morning, since waits can run for hours. Other restaurants in the same market buildings serve similar fish with much shorter lines.

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Tokyo Events: https://eventstokyo.com/en/guides/sushi