I've traveled all 47 prefectures of Japan, and done all sorts of "edgy" stuff that AtlasObscura has yet to cover, such as trails where only several dozen people have crossed that season. I've also revisited tourist hotspots like Kiyomizu-dera in Kyoto several dozen times.
I'd recommend people follow the beaten path. Is the most touristy spots in Japan and Kyoto "overrated" (given how popular it is)? Yes. But if you take out the crowds, is it grander and more significant than obscure site seeing spots off the beaten path? Yes. Efficient Market Theory applies to site-seeing places, especially with the internet.
There is a tendency in SV and on HN to be contrarian, but there's a good reason touristy places are popular. You get the most value for your time, especially if traveling is an expensive luxury for you and you don't want to take the risk. The best travel experiences I had in Japan were in obscure places, but the reason I've been lucky is that I went to hundreds of obscure places, most of which were duds.
Popular places have also been vetted by other foreigners plus the feedback loop of the business ecosystem being ready to handle a wide range of tourists.
Take restaurants for instance. The Japanese taste palette is rather muted/bland compared to what Americans are used, and even most other Asian countries. Consider how Japan only has two Hai Di Lao restaurants, a relatively pricy restaurant for most of the population, while a much lower income country like Vietnam has at least 10. Sure, there are some things that are "objectively" universally loved, let's say sushi, but the random Japanese hole in the wall with a line of locals waiting might be interesting, but not necessarily delicious, to a foreigner. If you read the Google Maps review for restaurants, you'll find two separate ratings distributions between English-writing reviews and Japanese reviewers. There's also a matter of price sensitivity. When you've already spent the fixed cost on flights, accommodations, you might as well make the most of your trip and try the best of the city has to offer. It's kind of outside the sunk cost fallacy. If you're living there, it's not financially sustainable to eat a Michelin star restaurant everyday. You'll evaluate restaurants based on relative value, wherein you have the option and leisure to go to tens of thousands of other restaurants, whereas a traveler only gets a few shots. At any rate, if you follow the beaten path for restaurants recommended by foreigners, you'll likely like it. If you pursue restaurants that Japanese people like, sure, you'll get some arguably authentic Japanese food for the experience but doesn't necessarily mean you'll enjoy it day in day out.
Personally, I would never go to the Ninja restaurant OP mentioned, as my taste palette has been calibrated to the Japanese. It's just screaming tourist trap. There is nothing wrong with that since the "tourist traps" in Japan are still pretty good. I just know it'll be over-priced. If I wanted Ninjas, I'll just go Mie prefecture where they incubated. But if you're visiting Tokyo, power to you for checking out the Ninja restaurant. If you're visiting Kyoto, I recommend "Menbaka Fire Ramen". The Japanese locals I know in Kyoto would not spent that kind of money ($15?) on ramen, especially one they think is way too salty, but I just took a guest who was visiting and it's been their favorite ramen shop in Japan.
Regarding restaurants, I think you generally get pretty good mileage out of Tabelog. A key problem for short-term visits is that highly-rated restaurants (>= 3.7) tend to fall into two categories: Either the restaurant is cheap and has a long queue outside it (typically things like ramen, but also cheap+good sushi) or it is expensive and requires a reservation. You generally can't just walk into this kind of restaurant unless you get lucky and it just happens to not be fully booked.
Placing a reservation requires a Japanese phone number (which you can get easily for the duration of travel) and most restaurants only accept reservations by phone. Some can be reserved on Tabelog directly, but this also requires a Japanese phone number, and some restaurants will call you back to confirm the reservation, so I'm not sure I would recommend this if you don't speak at least some Japanese. Even if you do reservations by phone, you should expect that most restaurants are already fully booked out for the next week. The best chance to get a reservation are restaurants that are a bit too expensive for their rating.
Ideally you would do reservations before you travel, but I'm not sure what the best way to do that would be in practice.
A third category is Japanese chain “fast food” restaurants such as Sukiya.
It’s cheap, fast, no reservations needed, can accommodate English speaking guests (as a chain, they have English tablets/vending machines), a relatively unique Japanese travel experience (that locals eat too), the food is more flavorful to non-Japanese taste palette.
For would be travelers reading this, see also Matsuya and Yoshinoya. Kura sushi, Ichiran Ramen, and Ikinari steakhouse kind of fall into this category too. Just avoid the “flagship” stores such as the Ichiran in Shibuya where the line is out the door recently. You can find an Ichiran at some random less touristy station and there would be no wait.
For a one week trip, there’s enough of these chain restaurants to try. There’s also Denny’s which, for those unaware, has a distinctly Japanese menu (Japanese interpretation of Western dishes)
Yo you ever been to Nakiryu for ramen though? It’s fire. The instant stuff they have at 7 is also incredible. (Michelin rated instant noodles. Seriously.)
Also I can’t remember the name of the place (Aka something) in Shinjuku but they do a spicy AF Nabe and a chicken wing that is literally the hottest thing I’ve ever eaten. I took a tiny bite and felt like I was going to die. They give you disposable gloves to handle it. My partner was in agony the next day.
Eh. It’s a whole country. There’s something for everyone. I’ll take Ootoya or Matsuya or Pepper Lunch any day. Will never eat at Coco Curry again though. Got food poisoning there once.
Yup, I swept 3 ( only 2 are current) Michelin star ramen shops in a week. I was not able to visit Tsuta because founder passed away recently and the shop is closed indefinitely.
Nakiryu is good, especially for the price, but I wouldn’t wait more than an hour for ramen. Fortunately I went when the border was closed. Nakiryu is novel because it is spicy, and it’s unique/rare for Japan, but the rest of Asia has spicy Chinese noodles (ironic cause Ramen is spelled in Katakana and literally means noodle in Chinese).
Not sure which nabe / chicken you had in Shinjuku. Sounds good, I’m interested. Are you sure it wasn’t a izakaya? There’s way too many to know. If you want chicken wings, don’t forget to try the wings in Nagoya. Furaibo is one spot. Again, surprisingly flavorful and unique for Japan, but similar stuff exist throughout Asia.
> Will never eat at Coco Curry again though. Got food poisoning there once.
It happens. You probably paid for that extra spice.
Wow. I'd love to read more about your experience. Please consider writing something for the rest of us; or point to things that you have written. Thanks!
I cannot think of a single “tourist trap” beyond Imahan that tastes better than any random place in the same category in Tokyo. Different story outside the city but Tokyo generally has pretty high standards, and places that focus on matching what tourists expect rather than just being good rarely come out well
Granted I guess I like stuff here so I’m not the target audience!
I meant relative to tourist traps in other countries, wherein all the tourist traps in Japan are still edible whereas there have been places abroad I simply just discarded. I would consider the tourist traps in Japan to be below average compared to same-category restaurants but they tend to have some experiential bit or decor that makes up for the lower food quality. It could be as simple as having an English menu.
This is a wonderful post, thank you :) I haven’t lived in Japan for an extended period, but it tracks with my experience exactly — particularly the bit about food, where I’ve had very limited success with scoring-based sites like tabelog and have come to greatly prefer explicit recommendations.
I'd recommend people follow the beaten path. Is the most touristy spots in Japan and Kyoto "overrated" (given how popular it is)? Yes. But if you take out the crowds, is it grander and more significant than obscure site seeing spots off the beaten path? Yes. Efficient Market Theory applies to site-seeing places, especially with the internet.
There is a tendency in SV and on HN to be contrarian, but there's a good reason touristy places are popular. You get the most value for your time, especially if traveling is an expensive luxury for you and you don't want to take the risk. The best travel experiences I had in Japan were in obscure places, but the reason I've been lucky is that I went to hundreds of obscure places, most of which were duds. Popular places have also been vetted by other foreigners plus the feedback loop of the business ecosystem being ready to handle a wide range of tourists.
Take restaurants for instance. The Japanese taste palette is rather muted/bland compared to what Americans are used, and even most other Asian countries. Consider how Japan only has two Hai Di Lao restaurants, a relatively pricy restaurant for most of the population, while a much lower income country like Vietnam has at least 10. Sure, there are some things that are "objectively" universally loved, let's say sushi, but the random Japanese hole in the wall with a line of locals waiting might be interesting, but not necessarily delicious, to a foreigner. If you read the Google Maps review for restaurants, you'll find two separate ratings distributions between English-writing reviews and Japanese reviewers. There's also a matter of price sensitivity. When you've already spent the fixed cost on flights, accommodations, you might as well make the most of your trip and try the best of the city has to offer. It's kind of outside the sunk cost fallacy. If you're living there, it's not financially sustainable to eat a Michelin star restaurant everyday. You'll evaluate restaurants based on relative value, wherein you have the option and leisure to go to tens of thousands of other restaurants, whereas a traveler only gets a few shots. At any rate, if you follow the beaten path for restaurants recommended by foreigners, you'll likely like it. If you pursue restaurants that Japanese people like, sure, you'll get some arguably authentic Japanese food for the experience but doesn't necessarily mean you'll enjoy it day in day out.
Personally, I would never go to the Ninja restaurant OP mentioned, as my taste palette has been calibrated to the Japanese. It's just screaming tourist trap. There is nothing wrong with that since the "tourist traps" in Japan are still pretty good. I just know it'll be over-priced. If I wanted Ninjas, I'll just go Mie prefecture where they incubated. But if you're visiting Tokyo, power to you for checking out the Ninja restaurant. If you're visiting Kyoto, I recommend "Menbaka Fire Ramen". The Japanese locals I know in Kyoto would not spent that kind of money ($15?) on ramen, especially one they think is way too salty, but I just took a guest who was visiting and it's been their favorite ramen shop in Japan.