Tokyo Sukiyaki Guide : Asakusa Imahan vs Ningyocho Imahan & How to Book

How Asakusa Imahan and Ningyocho Imahan Differ

One Name, Several Restaurants: The Noren-Wake Story

The confusing part for first-timers is that Imahan isn't a single restaurant — it's a family of them, spun off over nearly a century. The original house, today's Imahan Honten, began as a beef-hotpot restaurant run jointly by Hantaro Aizawa and Koji Takaoka. In 1928, Takaoka broke away to open his own place in Asakusa, and that became Asakusa Imahan. Ningyocho Imahan came later: it opened in 1952 as an Asakusa Imahan branch in Ningyocho, then went independent in 1956. When Takaoka's sons took over, the eldest inherited Asakusa Imahan and the second son took Ningyocho Imahan — which is why the two run as entirely separate companies today.

1. The mechanism behind all this branching is noren-wake (a traditional practice in which a trusted employee earns the right to open a business under the master's brand). Imahan Bekkan, also in Asakusa, split from Imahan Honten the same way. In Asakusa alone, that leaves three separate Imahan restaurants within walking distance: Imahan Honten, Asakusa Imahan, and Imahan Bekkan.

Asakusa Imahan vs Ningyocho Imahan: Atmosphere, Price, and Access

Asakusa Imahan is the pick for a calm, classic sukiyaki dinner without a stressful booking process. The restaurant spreads across three floors, with everything from standard tables to tatami seating, private rooms, and a large banquet hall — enough range to suit a business dinner, a family celebration, or a quiet meal for one. Dinner runs roughly ¥10,000 to ¥30,000, but lunch sets start around ¥3,000 to ¥5,000, which is real value for beef of this level. Beyond the main restaurant, its Isetan Shinjuku outpost, Asakusa Imahan Kirakutei, serves steak and wagyu hamburg steak alongside sukiyaki, while its signature beef tsukudani — beef simmered in sweet soy — and bento are sold at major department stores nationwide. The one catch is booking: reservations are phone-only, with limits on times and menus, so walking in the same day is rarely realistic.

Ningyocho Imahan, by contrast, is the easier one to actually get into. It runs as a much larger group — as of June 2026, 19 locations across Tokyo spanning sukiyaki, shabu-shabu, charcoal grill, and teppanyaki steak, plus meat-and-deli counters in Kanto department stores and standalone shops. Because each branch has its own atmosphere and clientele, the feel shifts from one location to the next. There's no bargain lunch here the way there is at Asakusa — expect roughly ¥10,000 to ¥20,000 whether you go midday or evening. The upside is access: with that many branches and online reservations, securing a table is far less of a scramble.

How to Book Imahan: Reservations by Branch

All four Asakusa-lineage restaurants are run by different companies, so each sets its own reservation rules. Here's how booking works at each:

1. Asakusa Imahan — Phone only. Lunch menus can't be reserved, and there are no bookings after 7:00 p.m.
2. Ningyocho Imahan — Online booking across all 19 branches, though the exact rules vary by location.
3. Imahan Honten — Phone only. Private inner rooms seat a minimum of two, and the 3:00–5:00 p.m. window isn't available for reservations.
4. Imahan Bekkan — Phone or email. Only tatami rooms and course menus can be reserved; hall seating is walk-in only.

Beyond Imahan: More High-End Sukiyaki in Tokyo

1. Asai

Selected Restaurant

Michelin Guide

2026

Asai is where to go if you want traditional sukiyaki cooked for you, tableside, by someone who clearly knows the craft. The chef trained at a two-Michelin-star restaurant, and the room has been Michelin Selected three years running, from 2024 to 2026. The beef is Omi wagyu from Sakaeya, one of Japan's most respected butchers, aged in-house until the flavor turns deep and concentrated — the kind that builds the longer you chew. The signature touch is the egg, whipped to a meringue-like foam that softens every bite. Because a kimono-clad server cooks everything in front of you, it's an easy first sukiyaki even if you've never tried it — and with eight counter seats, a private room for up to five, and English-speaking staff, it's built for a slow, guided meal.

2. Imafuku

Imafuku takes a chef's approach to sukiyaki — Japanese culinary technique crossed with a meat specialist's instincts — and the result is about as refined as the dish gets. It held a Michelin star for eight straight years, from 2015 to 2022, and made Tabelog's Sukiyaki and Shabu-shabu Best 100 in 2024. The centerpiece is Japanese Black wagyu sirloin, sourced by Yazawa Meat, which sends whatever is best that day. You taste it two ways: the first slice Kansai-style, seasoned with just sugar and soy sauce; the second Kanto-style, simmered in warishita, the seasoned sukiyaki broth — a neat lesson in regional difference. The menu is course-only, though you can add extra beef, vegetables, rice, or soup à la carte, and with private rooms and an English menu, it's an easy choice for overseas diners.

3. Motoazabu Kushima

Selected Restaurant

Michelin Guide

2026

Motoazabu Kushima comes at sukiyaki from a different direction: it's a niku-kappo (a chef's-counter restaurant built around meat), so the sukiyaki here tastes distinct from what a specialist house serves. The chef sharpened his skills at Kurogi, the Michelin-starred Japanese restaurant, and the room has been Michelin Selected in both 2025 and 2026. Dinner is a Japanese-cuisine course at heart, but it turns on Kagoshima beef worked into a range of dishes, with the rib loin going into the sukiyaki. The space is quiet and modern-Japanese, natural materials set against bare concrete, with counter seats and a private room. As you'd expect from a kappo, the plating and tableware are part of the show — a meal you take in with your eyes as much as your palate.