Japanese Restaurants

A large number of restaurant types can be found in Japan. Below is an attempt to introduce some of the most popular restaurant types in categorized form:

Many restaurants in Japan specialize in just one type of food.

* Sushi-ya
Sushi-ya are restaurants which specialize in sushi. In most sushi-ya, customers can sit either at a normal table or at a counter (sushi bar), behind which the sushi chef is working.

* Kaiten-zushi
Kaiten-zushi are sushi restaurants, where the sushi dishes are presented to the customers on a conveyor belt. Customers can freely pick the dishes that they like as they pass in front of them or order dishes which are not available on the belt. In the end, the number of plates is counted to determine the cost. There are usually a few kinds of plates (differing in color or pattern), each being associated with a certain price of typically 100 to 500 yen. Kaiten-zushi tends to be less expensive than usual sushi-ya.

* Soba-ya
Soba-ya specialize in soba and udon noodle dishes. Most noodle dishes come either cooled with a dipping sauce or in a hot soup and with different toppings. The menu often changes slightly with the seasons, with hiyashi (cold) noodles popular in summer and nabeyaki (hot) udon popular in winter.

* Ramen-ya
Ramen-ya specialize in ramen dishes, Chinese style noodles served in a soup with various toppings. Every ramen-ya has developed its own soup, the most crucial ingredient for a restaurant's success. Several other dishes of Chinese origin, such as gyoza and fried rice, are usually also available at a ramen-ya.

* Kare-ya
Kare-ya are restaurants that specialize in curry rice (kare raisu) dishes. There is usually at least one kare-ya and one ramen-ya inside or around any major railway station.

* Tonkatsu-ya
Tonkatsu-ya serve tonkatsu, deep fried breaded pork cutlets. Korokke and other deep fried dishes are also available at many tonkatsu-ya.

* Gyudon-ya
Gyudon-ya specialize in gyudon (beef domburi). Gyudon-ya tend to be inexpensive fast food style restaurants.

* Okonomiyaki-ya
Okonomiyaki-ya specialize in okonomiyaki and sometimes monjayaki. Customers are usually preparing their okonomiyaki by themselves on a hot plate which is built into the table.

* Yakitori-ya
Yakitori-ya specialize in yakitori, grilled chicken skewers. They are particularly popular among salarymen after work. Along with ramen-ya, they are also popular places to go as a late night snack after drinking.

* Tempura-ya
Tempura-ya specialize in tempura dishes, such as tendon (tempura domburi) and assorted tempura.

* Unagi-ya
Unagi-ya specialize in unagi (fresh water eel) dishes such as unajuu and unadon (unagi domburi).

* Sukiyaki-ya
Sukiyaki-ya specialize in sukiyaki and shabu-shabu. They tend to be expensive and are not very numerous.