Unique Restaurants & Bars in Japan

Discover 24 unique restaurants & bars in Japan.

Harukor

Tokyo’s only Ainu restaurant serves Indigenous food from northern Japan.

Tokyo Metropolitan Building Staff Cafeteria

The tallest city hall in the world offers an excellent bento box.

The (in)famous katsuo parfait.

Yuzuan Restaurant

Come for the fish sundae, stay for the collection of Studio Ghibli cat buses.

Honke Owariya

One of Kyoto's oldest food establishments has supplied soba noodles to temple priests and the Imperial Palace.

Chankonabe Shinzan

Sidle into a side alley for a taste of sumo wrestlers' traditional hot-pot soup, in a tiny restaurant founded by a former competitor.

Permanently Closed

Mistral Bleu Train Bar

A cool dive bar, off the beaten track.

Kiha

It's bad manners to eat and drink on the subways of Tokyo, unless the train is this bar.

A shelf full of unofficial merchandise.

Tavern Pachimon Wars

This bar is filled with Star Wars merchandise from around the world, all of it unlicensed knockoffs.

Kojo

This subterranean spot might be the epitome of Japan's baroque, retro coffee houses.

Omoide Yokocho

Colloquially known as “piss alley,” this narrow street filled with tiny bars and barbecue stands looks like it was pulled straight out of “Blade Runner.”

There's seating outside for diners.

Kurashiki, Japan

Matsuka Seimen Noodle Factory

Fans line up at the crack of dawn for a slurpy bowl of deliciousness at this noodle counter inside a factory.

Permanently Closed

Yokohama, Japan

Pink Holiday

Barbies stare from the walls, sit on the tables, and even pop out of cakes at this quirky cafe.

8bit Cafe

Transport yourself to the 1980s era of video games at this themed restaurant and bar.

Permanently Closed

Yurei Izakaya

Haunted house kitsch meets Japanese folklore at this theme bar where patrons can “die” and have their own mock funeral.

Inside the diver's hut.

Toba-shi, Japan

Ama Hut Hachiman Kamado

Huts like this were once a hub for the female divers who collected pearls and seafood off Japan's coasts.

Vowz

Drinkslinger is an unlikely vocation for a Buddhist monk, but at this Tokyo bar the enlightenment is served in a martini glass.