Discover Ginza's Best Traditional Foods and Sweets 2026: A Guide to Authentic Japanese Culinary Delights
Ginza is a shopping area located in the heart of Tokyo, representing Japan with its world-famous brand shops and department stores lining the streets.
While modern high-rise buildings stand in rows, many long-established stores dating back to the late 1800s still remain, creating a unique atmosphere where tradition and innovation blend together.
What's particularly noteworthy in this area is the Japanese food culture rooted in this district. It brings together renowned establishments pursuing Japanese flavors, including sushi restaurants that continue to preserve traditional cooking methods from the 1600s, teppanyaki restaurants where chefs cook right before your eyes, and Japanese sweets shops passed down through generations.
This time, we'll introduce carefully selected recommended stores from among the Ginza Traditional Foods & Sweets where Japanese tradition lives and breathes.
Ginza Has Many Long-Established Sweet Shops and Stores Where You Can Enjoy Traditional Food
There's a long historical background to why Ginza became known as one of Japan's finest gourmet areas. Since the 1800s, this region developed as Tokyo's cultural and commercial center, attracting excellent chefs and artisans from across the country.
As a result, many restaurants were born that value tradition while pursuing the highest quality ingredients and techniques. Even now, long-established stores with over 100 years of history line the streets, continuing to preserve flavors passed down through generations.
At these stores, you can experience Japanese food culture unique to Japan, such as cuisine using seasonal ingredients and Japanese sweets made through the skilled techniques of artisans.
When you visit Ginza, you can experience the history and tradition of Japanese food.
Traditional Japanese Cuisine You Can Enjoy in Ginza
In Ginza, you can authentically taste traditional cuisine representing Japan. From here, we'll introduce four particularly popular cuisine genres.
Sushi
Sushi is a representative Japanese dish where fresh seafood is placed on top of rice mixed with seasonings such as vinegar. This cuisine, born in Tokyo in the 1600s, is now loved worldwide.
Ginza is home to numerous high-end sushi restaurants, including Michelin-starred establishments. At these restaurants, the style called "Edomae sushi," where chefs carefully prepare each piece right before your eyes, is mainstream.
Chefs use techniques cultivated through years of training to judge the freshness of fish and provide it at the optimal timing.
If you sit at the counter, you can watch the chef's delicate hand movements up close, enjoying not just the cuisine but also the technique—an attractive point.
Reservations are often essential at high-end establishments, but they're well worth making.
You can savor sushi using seasonal ingredients such as fresh tuna, blue-backed fish like horse mackerel and sardines called "Hikarimono," and sea urchin and salmon roe.
Teppanyaki and Yakiniku
Teppanyaki is a cooking style where meat, seafood, vegetables, and other items are prepared on an iron griddle right before your eyes. Chefs provide freshly cooked dishes while showcasing brilliant knife skills and cooking techniques.
Teppanyaki restaurants in Ginza often use high-grade Japanese beef called "Wagyu," and its tenderness and rich flavor are exceptional. Wagyu is characterized by fine marbling of fat, offering a texture that melts in your mouth.
The process of the chef grilling meat right before your eyes is like a performance, making even the waiting time an enjoyable experience. The ability to have the grilling level and seasoning adjusted according to your preferences is another attractive point, allowing you to pursue your preferred taste.
Additionally, yakiniku is a cooking style where you grill meat yourself on a wire mesh while eating. Ginza has many high-end yakiniku restaurants where you can taste the finest Wagyu. You can enjoy it with various seasonings such as sauce and salt.
Tempura
Tempura is a dish where seafood and vegetables are coated in wheat flour batter and deep-fried in oil. It's a traditional cooking method continuing from the 1600s, characterized by enjoying a crispy texture and the original taste of ingredients.
At tempura specialty restaurants in Ginza, chefs provide tempura carefully fried piece by piece. Oil temperature management and frying time differ depending on the ingredients, requiring techniques cultivated through years of experience.
You can enjoy tempura using seafood such as shrimp and squid, vegetables such as sweet potato and eggplant, and seasonal ingredients. The ability to taste seasonal flavors through tempura, such as wild vegetables in spring and mushrooms in autumn, is another attractive point.
Tempura is generally eaten with salt or soy sauce-based sauce. By eating it freshly fried, you can simultaneously enjoy the crispy texture of the batter and the juiciness of the ingredients inside.
Sukiyaki and Shabu-Shabu
Both sukiyaki and shabu-shabu are hot pot dishes using beef. While they're beloved as standard Japanese winter dishes, in Ginza you can enjoy them year-round.
Sukiyaki is a dish where beef and vegetables are simmered in sweet and savory soy sauce-based soup in a shallow iron pot. The traditional style is to dip the cooked meat in beaten egg before eating, where the egg's mildness enhances the meat's umami flavor.
Ingredients such as green onions, chrysanthemum greens, and tofu are also simmered together, and it's common to add Japanese noodles called "Udon" at the end.
Shabu-shabu is a dish where thinly sliced meat is briefly dipped for a few seconds in a pot containing broth made from kelp. The name "shabu-shabu" comes from the sound made when swishing the meat in the hot water. The key point is not to overcook the meat, which allows you to maintain the meat's original tenderness and sweetness.
It's generally eaten by dipping in citrus-flavored acidic sauce or sesame-based sauce, characterized by a refreshing taste.
It's also popular as a healthy dish because you can eat plenty of vegetables.
At specialty restaurants in Ginza, they use the finest Wagyu, allowing you to fully savor the quality of the meat. Depending on the restaurant, there are also courses where you can compare various cuts of meat.
Traditional Japanese Sweets "Wagashi" You Can Enjoy in Ginza
Wagashi are traditional Japanese sweets made primarily using plant-based ingredients such as rice flour, beans, and sugar.
Unlike Western cakes and chocolates, they're characterized by modest sweetness and delicate appearance.
Wagashi have a long history and evolved alongside the development of tea ceremony. They came to be made with careful attention to seasonality as sweets to be enjoyed together when drinking tea.
The beauty of the four seasons is embodied in wagashi, such as cherry blossom-motif ones in spring, cool-looking ones in summer, ones using autumn leaves and chestnuts in fall, and ones expressing snowy landscapes in winter.
Ginza has many long-established wagashi shops continuing from around the 1800s. At these shops, artisans finish each piece by hand while preserving traditional manufacturing methods passed down through generations.
Many shops also offer original Ginza-exclusive wagashi, challenging the creation of new flavors while preserving tradition.
7 Shops to Enjoy Japanese Traditional Food That You Should Definitely Visit When You Come to Ginza
Ginza has countless restaurants, but here we will carefully introduce 7 renowned establishments where you can authentically experience ginza Traditional Foods & Sweets and traditional Japanese cuisine. Each has its own unique characteristics, so please choose according to your preferences.
Harutaka (Sushi)
Source:Tabelog
Harutaka is a three Michelin-starred sushi restaurant and is one of the highly acclaimed establishments in Ginza. Owner Harutaka Takahashi is known for his skills cultivated through years of training at renowned restaurants and his dedication to ingredients.
The appeal of this restaurant is its use of the highest quality seafood carefully selected from across the country. Fresh fish sourced from Toyosu Market and fishing ports around Japan is prepared using the optimal cooking method based on its condition that day.
The restaurant has counter seats and private rooms. At the counter seats, you can enjoy conversation while dining in close proximity to the craftsmen. Each piece of sushi, carefully shaped one by one, has everything calculated perfectly - the temperature of the rice, the balance of vinegar, and the unity with the fish.
I have visited before, and I was impressed by the exceptional deliciousness of the rice and the sensation of it dissolving in my mouth.
- Address: 6F Ginza Jiden Building, 8-3-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours: 17:00-00:00
- Closed: Sundays and holidays
- Phone Number: 03-3573-1144
- Official Website: https://gfs3000.gorp.jp/
Sukiyabashi Jiro (Sushi)
Source:Official website
Sukiyabashi Jiro is a world-famous sushi restaurant, and owner Jiro Ono is a legendary figure also called the god of sushi chefs. His commitment to continuing to make sushi while still active at 100 years old has impressed many people.
This restaurant earned three Michelin stars in 2007 and continued to maintain its stars for many years. It was also featured in the documentary film "Jiro Dreams of Sushi" and boasts international recognition.
The restaurant is located underground and is a small space with only counter seating. Only courses are offered, with about 20 pieces of sushi prepared one after another.
You can enjoy the ultimate experience where attention to detail is felt in every element, from the craftsmen's techniques to the rice, vinegar, and soy sauce.
Reservations are extremely difficult, and the restaurant may be fully booked months in advance, so book early.
If visiting from overseas, you can make reservations through your hotel's concierge, so please check with the hotel where you plan to stay.
- Address: B1 Floor, Tsukamoto Sogyo Building, 4-2-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours: 11:30-14:00, 17:30-20:30
- Closed: Sundays, holidays, Saturday evenings, mid-August, year-end and New Year holidays
- Phone Number: 03-3535-3600
- Official Website: https://www.sushi-jiro.jp/
Sushi Kanesaka (Sushi)
Source:Tabelog
Sushi Kanesaka is one of the highly acclaimed sushi establishments in Ginza, having earned two Michelin stars for six consecutive years.
Owner Shinji Kanesaka is known for his meticulous work and warm hospitality, and he values creating an atmosphere where even first-time visitors can relax and enjoy their meal.
This restaurant is characterized by offering the authentic taste of Edomae sushi, where you can appreciate the deliciousness precisely because it is simple. There is particular attention to sourcing fish, with the best selections made at the market every morning.
What I especially want you to try is the tuna. Sushi Kanesaka is particular about tuna, with the owner personally purchasing tuna at the market, aging it, and cooking the rice to match the tuna.
I have tried it before, and the moment it entered my mouth, the tuna's fat melted, surprising me with its deliciousness beyond imagination.
- Address: B1F Misuzu Building, 8-10-3 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours: 12:00-14:00, 17:30-22:00
- Closed: Mondays and Sundays
- Phone Number: 03-5568-4411
- Official Website: https://www.sushi-kanesaka.co.jp/
Makiyaki Ginza Onodera (Teppanyaki)
Source:Tabelog
Makiyaki Ginza Onodera is a restaurant that has earned one Michelin star for six consecutive years, where you can enjoy dishes of the finest Wagyu, seafood, and vegetables grilled in a wood-fired oven.
Located in the heart of Ginza, you can enjoy your meal in a refined atmosphere.
The sight of the chef grilling meat right in front of you is spectacular, finishing it to perfection with exquisite heat control.
It features an open kitchen, and if you sit at the counter seats, you can watch the cooking spectacle over wood flames right before your eyes.
The cuisine is based on French cooking with Japanese essence added, allowing you to savor innovative wood-fired dishes.
The restaurant also has private rooms available, so you can spend leisurely time with family or use it for special anniversaries or business entertainment.
- Address: 9F Sunlit Ginza III, 5-14-14 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours: 12:00-15:00, 18:00-22:00
- Closed: Year-end and New Year holidays
- Phone Number: 03-6264-3644
- Official Website: https://onodera-group.com/makiyaki/
Ginza Kobau
Source:Tabelog
Ginza Kobau is known as a restaurant where you can enjoy carefully selected Wagyu collected from all over Japan.
This restaurant is characterized by handling only female cattle, carefully sourcing various cuts of meat from female cattle with attention to production area, farm, and even age in months.
Dishes are served as courses, and the signature dish is Yukke-pan. This is grilled bread topped with raw beef seasoned with soy sauce and sesame oil, and it's a popular dish with many fans as the bread and meat flavors match perfectly.
The interior has a luxurious and calm atmosphere, with powerful smokeless roasters installed at each table. It's also a pleasant point that you can enjoy yakiniku without worrying about smoke or smell.
Staff will advise you on grilling methods, so even first-time visitors can feel at ease. You can taste the meat in its best condition with the grilling level that maximally brings out the meat's umami.
- Address: 5F HULIC & new GINZA NAMIKI 6, 6-6-5 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours:
- Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday: 17:00-23:30 (L.O. 22:45)
- Saturday, Sunday, Holidays: 12:00-23:00 (L.O. 22:20)
- Closed: None
- Phone Number: 050-5590-2150
- Official Website: https://www.zaikon.co.jp/
Tempura Kondo (Tempura)
Source:Official website
Tempura Kondo is one of the most famous tempura restaurants in Ginza, and owner Fumio Kondo is known as a master in the tempura world.
He has a particularly strong reputation for vegetable tempura, and his technique of maximally bringing out the natural sweetness and umami of ingredients is spectacular.
This restaurant's signature menu item is sweet potato tempura. By deep-frying slowly at low temperature over time, it is finished with a sweetness like a dessert and a fluffy texture.
I was also surprised by its sweetness when I first tried it. And you'll be amazed by its thickness of 7cm.
You can also enjoy tempura using seasonal vegetables and seafood. Since seasonal ingredients are provided in their best condition, you can savor the tastes of Japan's four seasons.
At the counter seats, you can watch the craftsman fry each piece right in front of you and taste them piping hot. It's also an attractive point that you can see fine techniques such as oil temperature management and frying time adjustment up close.
- Address: 9F Sakaguchi Building, 5-5-13 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours: 12:00-15:00, 17:00-20:30
- Closed: Sundays
- Phone Number: 03-5568-0923
- Official Website: https://tempura-kondo.com/
Ningyocho Imahan Ginza Branch
Source:Official website
Ningyocho Imahan Ginza Branch is a long-established sukiyaki and shabu-shabu specialty restaurant founded in 1895. It is known as a renowned establishment with over 130 years of history, continuing to preserve traditional flavors.
It uses carefully selected Wagyu. The restaurant manages everything consistently from meat procurement to service, allowing you to always taste the highest quality meat.
The beautifully marbled meat is characterized by tenderness that melts in your mouth.
The basic way to eat is to simmer beef in soup seasoned with soy sauce and sugar, and when cooked, dip it in beaten egg. The sweet and savory seasoned meat combined with the mellowness of egg is exquisite.
Shabu-shabu is also popular, where thinly sliced meat is quickly dipped in kombu broth. The meat tasted with citrus-infused soy sauce-based sauce or sesame sauce is refreshing and you can eat as many slices as you want.
The interior values a calm atmosphere that cherishes Japanese aesthetics. Tatami mats are laid, but you don't sit on the floor - there are tables and chairs, so you can visit casually.
- Address: 5F Kojunsha Building, 6-8-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours: 11:30-15:00, 17:00-22:00 (L.O. 20:30)
- Closed: December 31st, January 1st
- Phone Number: 03-3571-5333
- Official Website: https://restaurant.imahan.com/ginza/
5 Highly Recommended Popular Wagashi Shops in Ginza
Ginza is home to numerous wagashi shops with long histories. Here, we will introduce five particularly popular shops where you can enjoy the distinctive flavors of ginza Traditional Foods & Sweets.
HIGASHIYA GINZA
Source:Official website
"HIGASHIYA GINZA" is a new-style wagashi shop that incorporates modern sensibilities into traditional Japanese sweets. Located inside a cosmetics company building, you can enjoy wagashi in a sophisticated atmosphere.
The shop's distinctive feature is that while preserving traditional manufacturing methods, they apply unique ingenuity to design and flavor. The seasonal fresh sweets change with each season and are beautiful like works of art, enjoyable from their appearance.
Particularly popular are the various types of "Monaka." Monaka is a wagashi made by sandwiching sweet bean paste between thin wafers made from baked glutinous rice. At HIGASHIYA, they offer diverse flavors including black sesame and honey. My special recommendation is the peanut flavor.
The balance between the crispy texture of the wafer and the smooth bean paste is exquisite.
Additionally, in the attached café space, you can enjoy Japanese tea alongside wagashi. There is particular attention to detail in the tea utensils and space design, allowing you to spend a relaxing time.
- Address: 2F Pola Ginza Building, 1-7-7 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours: 11:00-19:00 (L.O. 18:00)
- Closed: New Year holidays
- Phone Number: 050-5590-2854
- Official Website: https://www.higashiya.com/shop/ginza/
Tokyo Ginza Seigetsudo Honten
Source:Official website
"Tokyo Ginza Seigetsudo Honten" is a long-established wagashi shop founded in 1907, with a history of approximately 120 years. As one of the shops representing Ginza's wagashi culture, it has been loved for many years.
The shop's signature product is "OtoshiBumi." This is a steamed confection made by wrapping a mixture of sweet white bean paste kneaded with egg yolk, then enveloped in a different type of sweet bean paste.
With its refined sweetness, it features a texture that crumbles the moment you put it in your mouth. They use carefully selected ingredients from all over Japan, and you will surely be amazed by their high quality. It is recommended to enjoy them with Japanese tea.
Additionally, they have a full selection of seasonal wagashi, all carefully handcrafted by artisans. Please experience the taste of this long-established shop that continues to preserve traditional flavors.
- Address: 7-16-15 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
9:30-19:00
Saturday, National Holidays
10:00-17:00 - Closed: Sunday
- Phone Number: 03-3541-5588
- Official Website: https://www.seigetsudo-honten.co.jp/
Ginza Kikunoya
Source:Official website
"Ginza Kikunoya" is a long-established wagashi shop founded in 1890. With over 135 years of history, they preserve traditional manufacturing methods while also creating new wagashi adapted to modern times.
The shop's representative product is "Fukiyose." This is an assortment of various types of "Higashi," with colorful small wagashi arranged like treasures in a box.
Due to its gorgeous appearance, it is very popular as a gift.
Higashi is a general term for wagashi with low moisture content that can be stored for long periods, including sugar-based sweets and baked sweets made from kneaded rice flour, among various types.
Ginza Kikunoya's Fukiyose contains Higashi in shapes and colors that evoke the seasons, each carefully handmade.
I often purchase them as souvenirs, and they are very well received due to their cute appearance.
- Address: 1F Ginza Azuma Building, 5-9-17 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
9:30-18:00
Saturday, Sunday, National Holidays
9:30-17:30 - Closed: January 1-3
- Phone Number: 03-3571-4095
- Official Website: https://www.ginza-kikunoya.co.jp/english/
Kuuya
Source:Tabelog
"Kuuya" is a long-established wagashi shop founded in 1884. Though it's a small shop quietly nestled in a back street of Ginza, it continues to be loved by local people as a renowned shop known to those in the know.
The shop's signature product is "Kuuya Monaka." The Monaka wafer has a thin and crispy texture, and inside is tightly packed with paste made from Hokkaido azuki beans.
The sweetness is modest, characterized by allowing you to enjoy the original flavor of the azuki beans.
The balance between the wafer and bean paste is exquisite, making it delicious enough to eat many pieces. The shelf life is relatively short at about one week, so it is recommended to eat them soon after purchase.
The shop is small and takeout-only, so you cannot eat inside. However, its simple appearance and unchanging taste allow you to feel the goodness of traditional wagashi shops.
Because these are popular products, they sometimes sell out. If you want to purchase them for sure, it is recommended to visit early in the morning.
- Address: 6-7-19 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours:
Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
10:00-17:00
Saturday
10:00-16:00 - Closed: Sunday, National Holidays
- Phone Number: 03-3571-3304
- Official Website: None
Ginza Akebono Mainstore
Source:Official website
"Ginza Akebono" is a wagashi shop founded in 1948, with its main store in Ginza. It is a long-established shop that has continued to provide delicious wagashi to people since shortly after the war.
The shop's representative product is "Sorezore." This is an assortment of bite-sized small Okaki, where you can enjoy various flavors. With a rich variety of flavors including soy sauce, salt, seaweed, and sesame, there is joy in comparing and tasting them.
Okaki is a traditional Japanese snack made from glutinous rice. Characterized by its crispy texture and savory aroma, it can be enjoyed as a tea accompaniment or as a snack with alcohol.
Ginza Akebono's Okaki is thin-baked and light, delicious enough to eat many pieces.
With various flavors ranging from salty to sweet, it's also fun to eat while guessing "What will this taste like?"
- Address: 5-7-19 Ginza, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
- Business Hours: 10:00-21:00 (Monday-Saturday)
10:00-20:00 (Sunday, National Holidays) - Closed: None
- Phone Number: 03-3571-3640
- Official Website: https://ginza-akebono.co.jp/
To Fully Savor Ginza's Cuisine, Joining a Tour with a Local Guide is Also Recommended
If you want to understand Ginza's food culture more deeply and efficiently visit renowned establishments, a food tour with a local guide who knows the area inside and out is recommended.
The greatest advantage of participating in a guided tour is that you can efficiently visit hidden gems that tourists alone would have difficulty finding, as well as popular shops that are difficult to reserve. Additionally, since an English-speaking guide accompanies you, you can enjoy the cuisine with peace of mind even if you don't understand Japanese.
An attractive point is also that you can receive detailed explanations from the guide about the history and culture behind the dishes, characteristics of ingredients, and dining etiquette.
Finest Quality Sushi & Tempura Dining Experience in Ginza
From here, we will introduce two particularly popular food tours in Ginza. Both offer English support, so even first-time visitors to Japan can participate with confidence.
This tour offers a luxurious experience where you can enjoy two traditional dishes representing Ginza—sushi and tempura—at once. In this approximately 2.5-hour tour, you will visit carefully selected high-end establishments.
First, you will visit a traditional sushi restaurant. Sitting at the counter, you can savor fresh sushi prepared right before your eyes by artisans. With the guide's explanations, you can learn about the types of fish, their origins, and key points for eating while enjoying your meal.
Afterwards, you will visit a tempura specialty restaurant. Here too, artisans will provide freshly fried tempura right in front of you.
You can enjoy various types of tempura including shrimp, squid, and seasonal vegetables. The taste of freshly fried tempura, where you can simultaneously enjoy the crispy batter and the juiciness of the ingredients inside, is exceptional.
After the meal, the guide will also show you hidden recommended spots such as bars where you can enjoy sweets and cocktails, so please make requests about what kind of shops you'd like to visit.
- Meeting point: In front of the Ginza Mitsukoshi lion statue near Ginza Station Exit A8
- Tour area: Around Ginza Station
- Start time: 16:30
Wagyu Beef & Sake Pairing Foodie Tour in Ginza
This tour offers luxurious content where you can enjoy Wagyu and sake. In approximately 3.5 hours, you will visit shops where you can enjoy sake and teppanyaki restaurants.
The tour begins first at a sake bar. Here, while sampling various types of sake, you can learn about the history of sake brewing and differences in taste by region.
You can enjoy an all-you-can-drink plan featuring over 20 types of sake at a bar from Nara prefecture, known as the birthplace of sake.
Next, you will visit a teppanyaki restaurant serving premium Wagyu. The meat has a tenderness that melts in your mouth, and its flavor will become an unforgettable memory. You can also enjoy pairing with alcohol.
Since you will not only enjoy meals but also stroll around Ginza, please consult with the guide about what places you'd like to visit.
- Meeting point: In front of the black pillar near SAZA Coffee in Ecute Edition Shimbashi at JR Shimbashi Station North Exit
- Tour area: Shimbashi/Ginza
- Start time: 17:00
