Six weeks before I embarked on a research mission in Kyoto, Japan, I was sitting alone at a Melbourne bar in Australia. Next to me a woman was bragging to a friend: she, too, was heading to Kyoto. Except that her trip was in four months, and she had just pulled an all-nighter booking restaurant reservations.
As I snooped on the conversation I broke out in a sweat, panicking because I had yet to secure a single table. Then I remembered: eating well in Japan is not something to lose sleep over.
It is true that the best-known institutions book up faster than tickets for Taylor Swiftโs Eras tour and that casual noodle joints have queues longer than for a Disney theme park ride.
But zoom out and you will see that those spots are mobbed because they have been repeatedly glorified by a handful of TikTok influencers and the jury of the Worldโs 50 Best Restaurants awards. There is usually a good reason for the accolades, but there other places that are just as good โ if not better.
So if you are planning a trip to Japan, here is a crash course on dining phenomenally without the stress. At the end of the day, that is the thing most worth bragging about.
1. Knowing where to go
There are three golden rules to whittling down your list of must-try meals.