Italian Food in Japan: Guide and Restaurants

Introduction: Japan’s Italian infatuation

Enthusiasm for Italian food may be at an all time high, if the Saizeriya website crash in mid-February is at all representative. Traffic to the popular family restaurant’s site overloaded servers, depriving eager visitors a glimpse at Saizeriya’s newest soon-to-be Italian food fads.

In Japan, many Italian dishes are comfort foods, both beloved and widely available — Today, it is said that there are several thousand Italian restaurants in Tokyo alone.

With a history that spans over a century and a wealth of dishes unique to the country, Japan’s Italian-inspired food is an unexpected delight even short-staying travelers should try.

A brief history of Italian food in Japan

Early inroads

The first Italian restaurant in Japan was Itaria Ken, opened in Niigata prefecture in 1881 by former circus performer Pietro Migliore. His establishment, fueled by the local’s love of his meat sauce, was opened just fifty years after modern spaghetti in tomato sauce was first recorded in Italy.

1. Itaria Ken

Spaghetti made a debut in cafes in the 1920s, but World War 2 saw the disappearance of this fledgling Italian food culture. The first hints of revival came in the form of restaurants opened in Hyogo prefecture by former Italian POWs to cater to occupying forces.

In the post-war period, GI’s popularized so-called “red-sauce Italian” within Japan. Starting with Donnaloia in Kobe, the 1950s were marked by the prominence of restaurants like Kabe no Ana and Chianti, popular eateries that began to draw lines between American-Italian food and European Italian food within Japan.

1. Donnaloia
2. Kabe no Ana
3. Chianti

Popularization and emergence

In 1970, the World Expo in Osaka opened the country to relaxed import restrictions on ingredients like tomato paste, durum flour, and Italian wine.

In 1973, Nishimura, an book-seller turned restauranteur, opened Ristorante Bunryu, which facilitated lectures for Italian chefs in Japan and directly established cooking schools in Tuscany. Japanese chefs began to train abroad, studying Italian cuisine in situ before returning home. These dishes were unfiltered by outside influences and represented the essence of Italian cuisine as Japanese chefs had experienced it.

1. Ristorante Bunryu

In the 1980s, restaurants like Al Porto, La Bettola di Ochiai, and Il boccarone helped cement Italian as the fourth major cuisine in the Japanese landscape, beside homely Chinese, Japanese, and haute French. At first restaurants dedicated to serving authentic Italian cuisine failed spectacularly. However, tides changed after an official recommendation from the Italian government sent Italian tourists in droves to restaurants like Akasaka’s Granata.

1. Al Porto
2. La Bettola di Ochiai
3. Il boccarone
4. Granata

At the same time, adoption of the more free-style nuova cucina encouraged preparation styles in line with Japanese cuisine while posing a marked departure from haute French — a move which made itameshi and Italian food more accessible. Italian-Japanese fusion dishes came about more intentionally to make use of top quality local ingredients.

Post-bubble renaissance

The 90’s bubble burst saw a dramatic spread of Italian cuisine as a cheaper alternative to French. Casual Italian eateries and chains like Saizeriya spread quickly, familiarizing the Japanese populace with a wider range of Italian foods. Pizza, tiramisu and prosciutto became quick favorites.

Until the end of the 20th century, dishes from the Lazio region were widely adopted in casual cuisine, while Roman cuisine captured the heart of fine dining chefs. After the early 2000s, the number of Japanese chefs returning after authentic experience cooking and studying in Italy increased, along with the availability of niche regional cuisines and ingredients.

In the late 2010-20s, specialty shops emerged and the nama-pasta movement, which emphasizes a use of fresh over dried pasta, came to a front. Napoli style pizza has become the dish de mode, with Japan’s Pizza Bar on 38th ranking among the top three best pizzas in the world.

Japanese pizza has been highly praised worldwide. For the best pizza experiences in Tokyo, check out our guide: Best Pizza in Tokyo.

Itaria Ryouri (Italian Cooking) vs Itameshi

The word *itameshi* is a portmanteau of “italia” or “italian,” and “meshi”, a Japanese word for food or meal. Thus, it follows that the itameshi category of cuisine maintains hallmarks of both Italian and Japanese food. These italian fusion foods feature elements from many cultures that fit the image of Italian food in Japan. Such fusions can be found in many yoshoku restaurants and cafes.

In contrast, itaria-ryouri translates literally to Italian cooking and represents efforts made to authentically recreate the regional and classical cuisine of Italy within Japan. Ristorante, trattoria, and the like, regardless of size, are reliable places in Japan to enjoy Italian food.

Essential Italian dishes to try in Japan

Carbonara

Japanese carbonara is distinct from the Italian version, utilizing sauce with generous amounts of heavy cream and substituting Carbonara’s pecorino-yolk base with a raw egg yolk or soft boiled egg served on top. Thick cut bacon replaces guanciale for a basic Japanese carbonara, but creative takes include mushrooms, sliced tomato and more. In Japan, carbonara most defensibly refers to pasta served with a cream sauce, egg, and bacon as the base.

Doria

Doria is a purely Japanese invention, sometimes playfully described as a dish that encapsulates, “What a Japanese person imagines Westerners eat.” Typically served in a casserole dish, doria is comprised of rice and bechemel or tomato sauce and toppings that is broiled or baked after assembly. Doria is enjoyed as a rice-gratin with in Italian style ingredients ranging from bolonese sauce to pizza toppings.

Napolitan

Napolitan (naporitan) and doria were invented at the Hotel New Grand in Yokohama to satisfy American diners. Originally considered yoshoku, napolitan is highly representative of the first wave of itameshi. Its key ingredients are spaghetti noodles, ketchup, green bell peppers, onions, button mushrooms, and often ham or sausage with a fried egg.

Wa-fu Spaghetti

This catch-all term encompasses dishes such as soup-spaghetti, ankake-spaghetti, tarako spaghetti, and butter-soysauce spaghetti, among others. Each of these represents a distinctly japanese take on pasta, ranging from a ramen-inspired dining style with soup-spaghetti to the employment of Japanese ingredients in dishes like tarako-spaghetti, invented at Kabe no Ana.

Bagna Cauda

This classical Italian dish is actually fairly uncommon in its home country. Hailing from the Piemonte region, bagna cauda is a fondue-style sauce usually accented with anchovie, served hot with crudite for dipping. Despite the name, this dish is frequently served cold in Japan, where it is far more prevelant.

If you're looking for the best Bagna Cauda in Tokyo, JINBO MINAMI AOYAMA is a must-visit. Led by Chef Jinbo, known as the 'Vegetable Magician,' this Michelin-listed restaurant offers an exceptional dining experience.

Pizza

Served in both stunningly authentic, award-winning style and only-in-japan italian fusion varieties such as corn-mayo and teriyaki chicken, pizza remains an interest-piquing crowd pleaser in any country. High end pizza specialists like Don Bravo and Pizza Bar on 38th are just as worth trying as chain pizza parlors.

5 Recommended restaurants

Gucci Osteria da Massimo Bottura Tokyo (グッチ オステリア ダ マッシモ ボットゥーラ トウキョウ)

Modern, true Italian cuisine as authentic in Tokyo as it is on the streets of Florence. This fine dining restaurant on the room of Gucci Namiki in Ginza is a Michelin one star awardee where playful fashion and rennaisance gravity combine.

Piatto Mitsu (ピアットミツ)

Sup on abalone and rich, rustic sauces at this petite 8-seat counter. A retro-quaint atmosphere is created by the authentic Italian radio tunes and novelty wall posters. Piatto Mitsu offers provincal Italian with fresh Japanese ingredients.

Vena (ヴェーナ)

This Kyoto eatery evokes hotel-style elegance with its vintage wines and furniture. The sommelier-chef duo create a refreshing marriage of new and old with peak of season ingredients. Vena has been named a top 100 Italian restaurant in Japan and a 2022-2024 One Michelin Star restaurant.

Napule Minami Aoyama Main Store (ナプレ 南青山 本店)

With locations in both Kyoto and Tokyo, Napule has become a pocket-friendly favorite for Italians living in Japan as well as local diners. Napule cooks its pizzas in wood-fired ovens crafted by Stefano Ferrara and offers both halal and vegan options.

LA BETTOLA da Ochiai (ラ・ベットラ・ダ・オチアイ)

1. Japan Restaurant Award, Best 100 (2021)

One of the defining restaurants in Japan’s Italian food history, Ochiai’s “dining hall” offers nostalgic Italian food with Bib Gourmand accolades. It”s worth visiting for a modern taste of the past and an in-depth look at the Japanese definition of “Italian food” and important Italian Japanese fusion restaurant culture.

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