Enjoy fresh and delicious sushi without breaking the wallet at conveyor belt sushi (sushi boat) restaurants in Japan.
Our family loves eating sushi, and we try to enjoy it at least a few times whenever we’re in Japan. Since we usually have our children with us, our usual go-to are conveyor belt sushi restaurants as they offer an amazing selection and the prices are fair.
If you’ve always wanted to eat sushi in Japan but worried about not being able to order sushi in Japanese. Don’t worry! You can still enjoy a great sushi meal at foreigner-friendly conveyor belt sushi (sushi boat) restaurants. Read more about it below.
What is Conveyor Belt Sushi?
Unlike traditional sushi restaurants, conveyor belt sushi, or kaiten sushi (回転寿司) in Japanese, serves pre-made sushi on a small plate traveling on a moving conveyor where customers can grab and enjoy sushi immediately without having to order. When we’re in Japan, we like to enjoy conveyor sushi at least a few times as the quality is decent and prices are very reasonable.
These days even though there is pre-made sushi available on the conveyor belt, customers typically order what they like and have it freshly made. The wait for the freshly made sushi is very short and it’s wonderful knowing the sushi was made just for you. Not sure which plate of sushi was the one you ordered? No worries, the plates have a chip underneath and your orders are usually sent directly to your seat or table.
Seating Options at Conveyor Belt Sushi Restaurants
Most conveyor belt sushi restaurants in Japan offer both counter and booth seating. Depending on the size of the restaurant, the booths usually fits 4 – 6 people. If there is a waiting list to be seated, the restaurants usually ask whether you prefer the booth or counter seating. You can also indicate either one works for you if you want a shorter waiting time.
Kaiten sushi (sushi boat) restaurants are very popular on weekends for families so keep this in mind. The wait time in Nami’s neighborhood is usually over 1 hour during the peak meal time on weekends.
How to Enjoy Conveyor Belt Sushi in Japan?
Eating conveyor belt sushi in Japan is straightforward as it’s mostly self-serve. After you’ve been seated by the host, set up the soy sauce and chopsticks. If you like hot green tea, simply scoop 1 spoonful of green tea powder into a cup and add the hot water from the faucet at the table.
Worried about not being able to speak Japanese to order what you want? Don’t worry!
Even if you don’t speak Japanese, you can easily enjoy conveyor belt sushi in Japan. Many of the big kaiten sushi chains offer a digital menu in Japanese, English, Korean, and Chinese. You can order sushi, food, and desserts all directly from the digital menu. If the restaurant doesn’t have a digital menu then they usually have an English menu with a number next to the sushi names. You can write the number on the order sheet and indicate the quantity.
When you are ordering the sushi, there are usually 2 additional options for the order. The first option is whether you want wasabi and option two is if you want the sushi to be cut in half so it’s easier for children to consume. After you order, the screen will let you know when your orders are about to arrive.
After the sushi starts arriving, the rest is easy. Simply enjoy all the sushi you want until you can’t fit any more in your stomach.
Getting the Check at Conveyor Belt Sushi Restaurant
The pricing at the kaiten sushi restaurant is based on the plate pattern. If you are not sure how much the sushi is, simply match the pattern to the price. The range of most plates is from 150 yen ($1.50) to 600 yen ($6). Some of the daily specials or seasonal specials could be more pricey.
After you finish the plates of sushi, they are usually not cleared and kept on the table. The reason is when you ask for the check, the staff will come by and scan all the plates for the total. It’s quite an interesting experience if you’ve never seen it before as it takes just a few seconds to sum up all the plates.
Our Favorite Kaiten Sushi
According to Tabelog, there are over 350 kaiten sushi restaurants around Tokyo. Our favorite is Toriton which originated from Hokkaido with 2 outlets in Tokyo. Both of their stores are ranked in the top 20 in Tabelog in the Tokyo area.
Besides Toriton, we also like Maimon Sushi which has 4 restaurants in the Kanto area including one in Ueno. The chain originated from the Kanazawa area and offers fish from the Sea of Japan like nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch) which are less common.
We hope this guide to conveyor belt sushi was helpful if you plan on visiting Japan. Although they are not fine dining quality, kaiten sushi is a great way to enjoy fresh seafood without breaking your wallet.
Going to Japan soon? Head on over and read our other Japan guides, including driving in Japan or things to know before visiting for helpful tips.
There are two locations of a conveyor belt sushi restaurant in the NW suburbs of Chicago. They aren’t as elaborate as the ones in Japan (no hot water spicket at the tables or ordering screen – you ask a server for anything you can’t get from the conveyor, including items from the menu that are only on the menu). They also have a plastic cover over the track, with doors that open so you can get your items. My daughter was able to experience the ones in Japan and is actually very happy with Sushi Station. We go to the one in Rolling Meadows, IL. There’s a second, bigger location in Elgin.
Thank you for the conveyor belt sushi info Linda. It’s helpful for readers in the Chicago area.
Conveyer Belt Sushi is getting pretty common in the U.S.
The first one we visited was in San Francisco’s Nihonmachi around 40 years ago.
Hawaii has tons of them too.
Hi Doug,
You’re probably referring to Isobune and they had a restaurant in Burlingame as well. They were among my sushi go-to places growing up in the bay area. Both of them are closed now.
Nami-San:
Yes ‘Isobune’ was their name.
It’s a shame they closed 🙁
I attended the grand opening ceremony of Nihonmachi, YEARS and YEARS ago (around 1965) while I was still working and lived in San Francisco.
We always visit several kaiten sushi restaurants when on vacation in Honolulu, Hawaii. A couple of them are pretty slick. In addition to what’s on the ‘belt’ you can remotely order other dishes and they automatically arrive on another ‘belt’ right to your eating station.
The prices in Hawaii are expen$ive but… cheaper than in Japan based on “Our average bill comes out to $35 – $40 usd per person (no tips in Japan).”
This conversation and looking at the photos is making me hungry !!!
Very nicely and enjoyably written in addition to being informative! Arigato.
And have you tried Sushi no Midori? It’s a chain but w counter or sit down but the one in Ginza, kind of outskirts of Ginza, was superb and so reasonable. But…a long wait in line. We thought it was worth it!
Thank you for this great site called JOC❤️
Hi Deanna,
Yes we love Sushi no Midori and usually, we go to the one in Shibuya Mark City. The wait is pretty long but it’s fantastic sushi for the low price they charge. Let JOC readers know if you have other recommendations!
This is so fascinating!
Hi Mimi,
Thank you for stopping by to read our guide on conveyor belt sushi!
I am enjoying your posts very much. I had the good fortune of a two week trip to Japan some years ago and the even better fortune to have a guide assigned to me. I came back a convinced supporter of Japanese cuisine and have stayed that way. Sushi is a favourite, ramen a close second. My single favourite dish was a plate of deep fried, spicey baby calamari, absolutely delicious!
Regards, Brian
Hi Brian,
Thank you for reading our post. Where did you have the deep fried spicy baby calamari? Sounds yummy and we would like to know.
Oddly enough it was in a conveyor belt sushi bar in a place called Jersey! Not in the US, it’s a small island just of the coast of Normandy in France but it belongs to we Brits. The bar is in St Helier, a port and the capital of the island. As far as I could tell it is a whole baby calamari, tentacles and all, obviously cleaned up and then coated in either a very spicy batter or a spiced flour and deep fried. It is crunchy, quite hot on the tongue and, as far as I could see, instantly caused people to call “Another one please!” rather than wait for the conveyor to come round. At least, that’s what it did to me. I cook Japanese quite often, most times home made goyoza dumplings, noodles, maybe a curry now and then and I built a sushi press to make sushi using smoked salmon, sometimes pickled herring, roasted bell peppers etc. I make rolled sushi too but it is not easy to get some of the Japanese products ( like fresh tuna) except in London, a fair way away from me. I can get staples like ramen noodles, seasonings etc., from the internet but they are expensive. I don’t know the numbers but I suspect Japanese cuisine is now as popular as Chinese in the cities and probably preferred to the host of Asian curry houses that used be highly popular but in my experience they have deteriorated.
Cheers, Brian
Ps what recipe books would you recommend for genuine Japanese cooking?
Japanese Cooking: A Simple Art by Shizuo Tsuji. This book is a compendium of not only recipes, but the techniques of Japanese cooking.
There a many cookbooks, but this stands at the top. I bought it 25 years ago and it has served me well.
That’s interesting. A well thumbed cookbook is always what I look for when browsing second hand bookshops. Thanks for the advice, Brian
I have put off my trip to Japan due to a new food allergy. My Japanese is not sufficient to ask about it in a Japanese restaurant. Could you tell me how to inform the restaurants about my allergy to chili peppers? There is always confusion as to what this means when I ask in restaurants, no matter which language or country I am visiting.
I can eat peppercorns and bell peppers. I can’t eat anything with capsaicin, this includes shishito peppers, shichimi togarashi, jalapenos–basically most peppers since they are in the chili family. Korean food is becoming more popular in Japanese home cooking as well as using chili peppers. I don’t know if this is true for restaurants.
Any advice or guidance to a good source would be appreciated. I love your blog and your travel tips and believe you would best know how to address this.
Arigato gozaimasu.
Hi Jennifer,
Sorry to hear about your food allergy. The good thing is most Japanese dishes does not include chili peppers. What we can recommend is to print out the following when you travel in Japan and show the restaurant staff while ordering.
私は唐辛子のアレルギーがあります。この料理に七味（一味）唐辛子、チリペッパーなどの調味料、又、ししとうが入っていますか？
I’m allergic to chili peppers. Does this dish include Shichimi (Ichimi) Togarashi, chili peppers, Shishito peppers, etc?
If you ever visit Kamakura there is a kaiten sushi next to the west exit of JR Kamakura eki you have to try.
I lived a few blocks from there and IMO their sushi is better than any I’ve tried in the US.
Hi Bkhuna,
Thank you for the tip, what is the name of the kaiten sushi restaurant as Kamakura is on our itinerary this summer?
As you leave the main (west) exit of Kamakuraeki, you have the bus loop in front of the station. To the left is a road, Komachi-dori, that runs north toward Hachiman-gu. The kaiten zushi is just a block up the road on the right.
The best yakitori shop in Kamakura is only a couple of blocks west of the station on the main street, Wakamiya. Tell them Jessica’s father says hello. And whatever you do, try the duck breast or the chicken sashimi. They are life changing.
While there, please take the Enoshima rail line to Enoshima, just a few minutes by rail, and have some Shirasu-don at one of the sea side restaurants. It’s a local thing.
Ganbatte!
The name of the yakitori-ya is Hideyoshi Yakitori. The owners are the nicest people you’ll ever meet.
Thank you Bkhuna! We can’t wait to try it this summer.
Are there any sushi boat restaurants in the Bay Area that you would recommend? Are there particular types of sushi there (or other menu items) that are popular with children? Thanks!
Hi Jayne,
There are not any sushi boat restaurants in the bay area we are familiar with. These days with our children we eat simple chirashi or temaki once a week at home to satisfy our sushi cravings.
If we do decide to eat out for sushi, we like Sushi Sam’s in San Mateo (usually long wait), Amami Sushi in San Bruno, Sakae Sushi in Burlingame, and Ryoshin Sushi in Belmont is great for take out.
Unfortunately, because most of the unique fish at bay area sushi restaurants are flown from Tsukiji, there ends up being a very pricey premium. Therefore we tend to save our sushi bingeing when we visit Japan.
According to Yelp, there are at least 3 conveyor belt sushi restaurants in San Francisco.
Izumi Kaiten Sushi replaced Isobune in JapanTown and there is Tenroku Sushi on Post Street as well. Warakubune Sushi on Church Street also offers the same type of menu as the above two.
We’ve been to Isobune’s in Oakland and SF back in the 90’s.
Hi Mae,
I did see a few conveyor belt sushi on Yelp but we can’t recommend restaurants we haven’t been to. Have you been to them?
Hi Becky,
It’s really up to the individual, our son can eat 10 – 12 plates and keep in mind each plate has 2 sushi unless specified. For an adult who loves sushi 13 – 15 plates is probably reasonable. Our average bill comes out to $35 – $40 usd per person (no tips in Japan).
Hey Nami! Thank you for this post! I have a question though – how many plates is appropriate to order for each person?