Michelin Guide Tokyo 2026: what changed, and which tables you can actually book

The short version

The Michelin Guide Tokyo 2026, unveiled on 25 September 2025, again makes Tokyo the most-starred city in the world: 160 starred restaurants — 12 with three stars, 26 with two and 122 with one. The headline news is a new three-star, three promotions to two stars, a sustainability Green Star, and a Mentor Chef Award for a 97-year-old eel master. Most of these tables are extremely hard to book — so below we also point to starred and Editor's-Choice rooms a traveller can realistically reserve.

The new three-star: Myojaku

The one promotion to three stars is Myojaku, a Japanese-cuisine counter that only opened in 2022. Its chef cooked in Kyoto and Tokushima and spent eleven years as head chef of a one-star Tokyo restaurant before going solo — a fast climb to the guide's highest honour. It is a tiny, reservation-only room; treat a seat as a once-a-trip event, not a drop-in.

Three new two-stars, one Green Star

Three restaurants rose to two stars: Nishiazabu Sushi Shin (sushi), Hakuun and Ensui (both Japanese cuisine, the latter built on dashi and charcoal). Michelin also awarded a new Green Star for sustainability to Trois Visages in Tsukiji, a French kitchen that grows its own vegetables and herbs by natural farming and works to cut food waste — a useful flag for diners who care where ingredients come from.

The most human story: a 97-year-old eel master

The Mentor Chef Award went to Kenjiro Kanemoto, the fifth-generation owner of the one-star eel house Nodaiwa Azabu-Iikura Honten — at 97, the world's oldest active Michelin-recognised chef, now teaching the sixth and seventh generations of his family. The good news for travellers: Nodaiwa is an unagi specialist, not a tasting-menu fortress, so a lunch of charcoal-grilled eel here is one of the more bookable ways to eat at a Michelin table in Tokyo.

Stars you can realistically book

Beyond Nodaiwa, several starred or Editor's-Choice rooms in our directory take reservations without months of waiting: Ginza Kojyu (refined kaiseki), Tempura Kondo (the famous vegetable tempura), Hakkoku (an edomae sushi flagship) and Ise Sueyoshi (a warm, English-friendly kaiseki counter that handles dietary requests well). For a special night out of Tokyo's roster, Kagurazaka Ishikawa is among the city's most celebrated kaiseki. Book through each venue's official or Tabelog link, state any dietary needs when you reserve, and arrive on time — these counters run on rhythm.

How to read a star as a traveller

A star is a kitchen signal, not a service promise. Few of these rooms are halal-certified or set up for strict vegan diets, so confirm needs at booking rather than on the night. And remember the rest of the city: Tokyo's depth is in its un-starred ramen, soba and tempura, where the cooking can be every bit as serious.