Editor's Choice

Chef Toru Okuda's two-Michelin-star counter, carved from a 270-year-old cypress, distills the season into impeccable Ginza kaiseki.

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Details

Address
Carioca Building 4F, 5-4-8 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104-0061
Nearest station
Ginza Stn
Cuisine
Kaiseki
Price
¥¥¥¥
Signature
Seasonal omakase: grilled Ise lobster, ayu, eel, abalone

Ginza Kojyu is chef Toru Okuda's two-Michelin-star kaiseki counter, tucked on the fourth floor of the Carioca Building a minute's walk from Ginza Station -- one of Tokyo's most disciplined seats for the classic tasting-menu format.

The room does a lot of the talking. The counter is hewn from hinoki cypress, and it seats the bulk of the room's twenty-two total covers, with two private rooms -- one for four, one for six -- tucked off to the side in the same understated wabi-sabi style Okuda is known for, with nothing to distract from the food. The omakase leans into peak-season ingredients over showmanship: grilled Ise lobster, river-caught ayu, eel, and abalone have all rotated through recent menus, plated with the restraint that built Okuda's reputation in the first place. Expect the pacing of a proper kaiseki meal -- courses built to trace the season from first bite to last, with dashi doing most of the quiet heavy lifting rather than any single showpiece dish.

Reservations are essential and not casual. Kojyu runs a mostly Japanese-speaking phone line, doesn't take bookings from overseas directly, and is closed Sundays and public holidays, so most overseas visitors go through a concierge service (a hotel concierge, or platforms like Pocket Concierge and byFood) rather than calling direct. There is no English menu, though guests report staff making an effort to talk non-Japanese speakers through each course as it arrives. Credit cards are accepted (Visa, Mastercard, JCB, Amex, Diners), so there's no need to carry cash. Tabelog lists the fixed-price courses at ¥27,500 for lunch and ¥38,500 for dinner, plus a 10% service charge -- other booking platforms quote higher, so treat those as a floor rather than a fixed number, and budget for an occasion rather than a quick stop. Flag any dietary restrictions well ahead of time: this is dashi-forward, seafood-heavy kaiseki with no separate vegetarian track.

Last verified Jul 2026

Hours and details can change — please confirm before you visit.

UMAMI HUNT Editorial
  • Japan-based editorial team
  • Primary sources, cited
  • Variable facts dated

The UMAMI HUNT editorial desk. We work from primary sources and date every claim that can change.

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