Japan
The famous stops book out months ahead; the counters that actually feed the neighbourhood mostly don't take reservations at all.
Cherry blossom season and the first weeks of autumn are when the weather cooperates and the crowds peak at the same time — that trade-off holds from Kyoto's temples to Tokyo's parks. Skip the restaurants that need a reservation set months out and look for the counter seats in Shimokitazawa or Nishinari instead; that's where the country's everyday cooking actually happens.
Places in Japan
Hiroshima
Its own style of okonomiyaki, layered rather than mixed, and worth learning to order properly.
Kanazawa
A city that kept its old merchant quarter intact instead of rebuilding over it.
Kyoto
The temples get the crowds; the obanzai kitchens two streets over get the regulars.
Matsuyama
A castle town on Shikoku built its whole identity around the oldest onsen in the country.
Osaka
Okonomiyaki is cooked in front of you everywhere here — the difference is who's actually eating it alongside you.
Tokyo
Shimokitazawa's back streets hold more good counters than the guidebook districts ever will.
Logged in Japan
Ainotsuji Machiya
Kanazawa, JapanA restored machiya townhouse stay in Kanazawa's old merchant quarter, a handful of tatami rooms.
Chitose
Osaka, JapanA Nishinari neighbourhood canteen cooking thick Osaka-style okonomiyaki on the hotplate in front of you.
Dogo Onsen Honkan
Matsuyama, JapanJapan's oldest onsen bathhouse, a Meiji-era timber turret said to have inspired Spirited Away's bathhouse.
Kanazawa Shinise Kinenkan
Kanazawa, JapanA preserved Kaga merchant house in Nagamachi, kept as a museum of craft and daily life.
MAGI/one.1
Tokyo, JapanA tiny Miyagi-cuisine izakaya in Shimokitazawa, pouring sake from the same region.
Nagataya
Hiroshima, JapanHiroshima-style okonomiyaki, cabbage and noodles layered rather than mixed, griddled at the counter.
Nakashimaya
Kyoto, JapanHome-style obanzai cooking in a Kyoto machiya lane, running since 1958.
Okonomiyaki Izakaya Gen
Osaka, JapanOkonomiyaki cooked at your seat alongside a full izakaya menu, just off Dotonbori.
Shirube Shimokitazawa
Tokyo, JapanAn oden-and-shabu-shabu neighbourhood izakaya in Shimokitazawa, best in winter.
Tonki
Tokyo, JapanA Shōwa-era tonkatsu counter in Meguro, unchanged since 1939.
Tuzuri
Kyoto, JapanAn obanzai restaurant in a quiet Shimogyo backstreet, built around whatever's in season.