Where to Find the Best Conveyor Belt Sushi in Tokyo

When you think of sushi, you probably either think of the plastic boxes in the supermarket or of an expensive, omakase-style restaurant where sushi is prepared by master chefs.

But if you're exploring Tokyo's incredible food scene there's actually another fantastic place where you can eat sushi that many visitors overlook: conveyor belt sushi restaurants, also called sushi trains, revolving sushi, or kaitenzushi in Japanese.

Conveyor belt sushi restaurants combine cheap sushi, plenty of choices, and a fun dining experience.

I tried two of them, at two different price points in Tokyo.

What is Conveyor Belt Sushi?

As the name suggests, conveyor belt sushi restaurants have a long conveyor belt where small plates of sushi move past customers. Depending on the restaurant, you can either pick any plate you see in front of you or order sushi to be freshly made, arriving directly to your table on the conveyor belt.

Tokyo's conveyor belt sushi establishments vary in style - depending on the restaurant, you can either pick any plate you see moving in front of you or order sushi to be freshly made, arriving directly to your table via the conveyor belt.

This flexibility makes conveyor belt sushi Tokyo dining perfect for everyone from adventurous food lovers to families with picky eaters.

History of Conveyor Belt Sushi: From Osaka to Tokyo

The first kaitenzushi restaurant, Mawaru Genroku Sushi, opened in Osaka in 1958.

Founder Yoshiaki Shiraishi couldn't manage a sushi restaurant all by himself and had trouble finding staff due to postwar labor shortages. So, he fixed this issue by placing sushi on a conveyor belt to serve it directly to customers.

Not only did he come up the idea of the conveyor belt, but also with the colored-plate pricing system, where each color corresponds to a different price of sushi, and the automatic hot water dispenser for green tea.

You can find all kinds of interesting sushi creations at conveyor belt sushi restaurants like this avocado tempura nigiri.

Conveyor belt sushi was officially presented at the Osaka World Expo in 1970 which popularized Shiraishi's concept all over Japan. His restaurant evolved into a chain that, at its peak, had 250 restaurants nationwide. Sushi used to be a luxury, but kaitenzushi made it accessible and fun for everyone. If you want to eat a piece of conveyor belt sushi history, the first Genroku Sushi still exists today in Osaka.

Recent Conveyor Belt Sushi Issues

Until recently, most kaitenzushi had a large oval conveyor belt with a lot of sushi plates already prepared for you to pick any time. Unfortunately, that’s now largely a thing of the past.

First, the COVID-19 pandemic led many restaurants to stop their moving belts since diners weren’t keen on food passing by dozens of people.

Second, “sushi-tero” (sushi terrorism) became a major scandal in 2023, when videos showed teenagers tampering with food and returning it to the conveyor belt.

It hurt customer traffic and even dented the stock price of major kaitenzushi chain Sushiro.

Finally, traditional conveyor belts generated waste: lots of sushi sat at room temperature and had to be discarded.

Those controversies led conveyor belt sushi restaurants to evolve and modify the way they work. Some chains shifted to made-to-order sushi only; others stayed traditional but adapted in new ways.

To see both approaches, I tried two Tokyo conveyor belt sushi restaurants - Sushiro and Nemuro Hanamaru.

Sushiro, the Technological Approach to Conveyor Belt Sushi

Sushiro is one of the largest kaitenzushi chains in Japan. For this review, I went to the recently opened restaurant in Sunshine 60 in Ikebukuro. Many online reviews for Sushiro restaurants in Shinjuku and Shibuya say that they have to queue for a long time, so I recommend going to less touristy locations like Ikebukuro.

What a standard Sushiro booth looks like. Check out that huge touch screen menu!

In my case, I went at 12:30 by myself and got a counter seat immediately. Even if there is no queue, you first register yourself at the entrance and get a ticket which will lead you to your table - no interaction with any staff required.

My counter seat - I also get a small touch screen menu and mini conveyor belt!

A couple of years ago, Sushiro switched to made-to-order sushi only, so you order using a large screen in front of your table. To bring back some of the classic conveyor belt sushi excitement, Sushiro added a virtual conveyor belt on the screen showing what other people are ordering plus current promos.

Many Types of Fish and Shellfish

When it comes to fish and shellfish sushi, I had the fatty tuna, cherry trout, sea bream, broiled salmon, crab, minced tuna and egg yolk, and scallop sushi. I liked all of them, with a preference for the cherry trout, scallop, and minced tuna and egg yolk.

When I went, Sushiro was running a promotion replacing their typical sushi rice with Aka Shari, a type of sushi rice that is seasoned with red vinegar (aka-zu).

No need to worry about missing your plate when your sushi arrives, you have a small personal conveyor belt, kind of like a freeway exit, so the plates will stop directly at your table.

A chunky piece of fresh tuna sushi.

To season your sushi, there are free packets of wasabi and three soy sauces: normal, low-sodium, and sweet.

Unusual Sushi at Sushiro

Since kaitenzushi restaurants are inexpensive, it’s a good chance to try unusual sushi! I ate corn tempura nigiri, fried quail egg and egg salad gunkan, and hamburger and salad nigiri.

I was pleasantly surprised by the warmth and crispiness of the tempura and fried quail egg, they had clearly just been fried.

This is the freshly fried corn tempura nigiri - the freshly fried corn tempura was a perfect balance of sweet, salty, and crispy.

The hamburger in the hamburger salad nigiri was very juicy but the whole piece was impossible to eat like a normal nigiri, and pieces of salad kept falling on my plate. But, it was very fun to try new types of sushi that I normally wouldn’t spring for at a higher price point.

On the left, the fried quail egg and egg salad gunkan sushi. On the right, the hamburger salad sushi.

Other Menu Items

If someone in your group doesn't eat raw fish or shellfish, there are broiled/cooked fish categories, as well as egg sushi, fried chicken, noodles, and even fries.

That way, even picky eaters can have an enjoyable meal. Sushiro also has a large choice of desserts, so I picked the strawberry mont blanc with jelly. It was pretty good - on par with a decent konbini or supermarket dessert but I wasn’t expecting anything too luxurious.

Mini-Games

When you eat a certain amount, it will trigger a mini-game. I was expecting to win a coupon to buy more sushi, but I was surprised to see a little gift box come to my table. It was a small souvenir plate with a cute otter holding a piece of tuna, perfect for soy sauce!

Overall, I really enjoyed my lunch at Sushiro, it's foreigner-friendly since you only have to interact with the screen and it has complete English instructions. Compared to a traditional kaitenzushi, I appreciated that I could see how much I had already ordered instead of making all the calculations myself.

Even though I still miss the original experience of kaitenzushi, I still found Sushiro thoroughly entertaining and tasty.

Nemuro Hanamaru: Traditional Conveyor Belt Sushi in Tokyo

Given all the recent issues, do traditional conveyor-belt restaurants still exist? Yes but they’re rare. Even if a place calls itself “kaitenzushi,” check recent reviews to see whether the conveyor belt is actually in use.

The entrance to Nemuro Hanamaru.

Nemuro Hanamaru is a revolving-sushi chain originally from Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island and home to some of the country's best seafood.

This slightly higher-end kaitenzushi chain keeps the classic conveyor belt while still letting diners order freshly made sushi like at Sushiro. I went to the location near Tokyo Station in the Kitte Building. Reviews warned of long lines, but at 3:00 p.m. it wasn’t crowded.

The bustling atmosphere at Nemuro Hanamaru feels like a classic conveyor belt sushi spot.

To address sushi-tero and food waste, Nemuro Hanamaru runs fewer plates on the conveyor belt and encourages ordering instead; roughly half the belt carried empty plates or promo signs. I decided to eat only what came by on the belt for the true conveyor belt sushi experience.

Unlike Sushiro that uses a machine to shape the rice for their sushi, all Nemuro Hanamaru sushi is made from start to finish by trained sushi chefs which reflects in the slightly higher price point compared to other chains. Prices for each plate of sushi are determined by the color of the plate which is then tallied up at the end of your meal.

Prices for sushi here range from 160 to 500 yen.

Traditional kaitenzushi is more exciting if you’re adventurous. Plates aren’t labeled, and there isn’t much time to compare photos on the menu with what is revolving around your seat.

I had pickled salmon roe nigiri, inarizushi, minced salmon gunkan, tamagoyaki, shrimp nigiri, and scallop nigiri, with the pickled roe and shrimp as standouts.

The inari sushi (seasoned tofu pouches stuffed with sushi rice) at Nemuro Hanamaru is a must try and perfect for vegans and vegetarians.

I was reassured by the small number of plates on the conveyor belt and the fact that sushi chefs were careful to make a small quantities regularly, that way they could both reduce food waste and make sure customers were eating the freshest sushi possible.

Final Thoughts

I recommend classic kaitenzushi if you’re adventurous and enjoy the communal experience of eating around the same conveyor belt with strangers. Opt for Sushiro’s modern version if you’re eating with your own group - especially with picky eaters or kids. Overall, conveyor belt sushi is a must try when visiting Tokyo!