Michelin Japan 2017: Tokyo Continues its Gastronomic Reign

The talk of the food world this week: Michelin has announced the winning restaurants in its 2017 guide to Tokyo, and the Japanese capital continues its decade-long reign as the city with the most Michelin stars in the world. To quote the Wall Street Journal, “a total of 12 restaurants gained the highest three-star rating, one fewer than last year, and 227 restaurants in the city had at least one star, up from 217 a year earlier.”

For the 10 years that the Michelin Tokyo guide has been published, four restaurants have retained their three-star rating: Kanda, Sukiyabashi Jiro, Quintessence and Joel Robuchon. There were no new three-star restaurants this year.

Eater adds that Japan’s second largest city of Osaka has even more Michelin-starred restaurants than Paris: 96 vs. the City of Light’s 92. In addition, Eater notes that the Michelin Tokyo guide recognized a ramen restaurant (Tsuta) with a star last year, and another one (Nakiryu) joins the celestial ranks of Michelin in the 2017 guide.