Cool Places to Eat & Drink in Japan

64 places you must eat and drink at in Japan.

World's Largest Rice Scoop - Oct 2015 by GGibberish

Hatsukaichi, Japan

World's Largest Rice Scoop

This enormous "shamoji" means more to the people of Miyajima than just a way getting rice onto a plate.

Welcome to the uncanny valley.

Issen Yoshoku

This kitsch-forward diner is dedicated to an almost-forgotten “one-cent” prototype of okonomiyaki.

The press for extracting liquid from the fermented rice mixture.

Katayama Shuzo

Founded in 1880, this humble brewery still practices a disappearing technique of sake-making.

Koytili hamsei, or sheep tongue salad.

Silk Road Tarim Uyghur Restaurant

Sample specialties from Xinjiang at this Shinjuku neighborhood gem.

The "Bakauke Inari" shrine.

Niigata Rice Cracker Museum & Bakauke Inari

This snack factory boasts several tributes to its popular line of rice crackers, including a quasi-shrine.

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.

Peering into the café.

Kissa Laundry

Run a wash cycle while sipping a latte at this community-oriented café.

The Gamma Field

Hitachiōmiya-shi, Japan

The Gamma Field

The world's largest radiation field is probably our best bet for irradiated vegetable superheroes.

Koguma’s “Showa-retro” interior.

Koguma

This cozy café is housed in a repurposed pharmacy originally built in 1927.

The exterior of this centuries-old candy shop.

Minatoya Yurei Kosodate-Ame Honpo

Legend has it that centuries ago, a ghost once frequented this candy shop to feed her still-living baby.

The Venus of Gyoza.

Utsunomiya, Japan

The Venus of Gyoza

At a Japanese train station, a goddess emerges from a dumpling.

Enjoy your coffee to the tango music from a bygone era.

Milonga Nueva

This retro café is a remnant of Japan’s post-war Argentine tango craze.

Yudanaka Onsen Pudding Honpo

Yamanouchi, Japan

Yudanaka Onsen Pudding Honpo

This 24-hour vending machine serves up homemade treats inspired by the local Japanese snow monkeys.

Starbucks Dazaifu Tenmangu Omote-Sando

This is no ordinary coffee chain outlet—it's an architectural masterpiece.

Japan’s First Tea Tree

In the oldest zen temple stands a descendant of the very tree that introduced tea to Japanese culture.

Kamakura, Japan

Chikaramochiya

Open since 1690, this former teahouse makes “strength mochi” based on the centuries-old recipe.