Ginza Sushi Aoki Honten

※ As of 2024, Ginza Sushi Aoki Honten only takes reservations from hotel concierges. Please consult with the byFood team for alternative dining options. ——— In Japan, traditional arts are passed down with great reverence from generation to generation, be it tea ceremony, lacquerware, or metalworking. The culinary arts are no different. After training at famed Ginza sushi restaurant Nakata, Chef Yoshi Aoki started his own restaurant in Kyoto’s Kiyamachi district in 1972, also named Nakata in homage. Returning to Tokyo in 1986, Chef Aoki opened another sushi restaurant in Kojimachi, bestowing upon it his own family name, Aoki. Just one year after moving the restaurant to its present Ginza location in 1992, Chef Aoki tragically passed away, leaving Sushi Aoki in the hands of his son, Toshikatsu, then only 29. Nonetheless, the younger Aoki continued to uphold the family tradition of excellence, even opening a second location in Nishi-Azabu in 2007, where many of Tokyo’s finest sushi chefs served their apprenticeship. Though its name is now officially Ginza Sushi Aoki to pay tribute to the restaurant’s Ginza roots, the restaurant is still, unmistakably, Sushi Aoki first and foremost. As he places meticulously hand-crafted sushi before his guests, Chef Aoki also shares his favorite seasonal ingredients, stories, and key pieces of his philosophy with them. A meal at Ginza Sushi Aoki is not just a display of skill and craftsmanship; it’s an insight into a proud culinary tradition.