If there's one bad thing about visiting Japan, it's this
Nothing feels worse than agonising over where to eat one of your precious meals in Tokyo, only to be turned away at the door. The guy behind the counter will cross his arms and 'X' marks the spot where your dinner plans are ruined. You'll shuffle outside and join the rest of the tourists, illuminated by the glow of their phones as they try to figure out where to go next.
Anyone who has been to Japan has no doubt had this experience. It's now more common than ever, as a weak yen has turned Japan into Bali (with better beer), and it seems everyone you know is going there.
Most people will gush about the trains, the temples, and the fancy toilets. They will tell you how much they loved the food and the people, but if there is ever a black mark against a trip to Japan, it always comes back to the same thing. That one night they were turned away from restaurants again, and again, and again …
It's not uncommon to be knocked back from restaurants two, three, or even five times in a night and while it can make you think insidious thoughts about the xenophobic nature of the country, the truth is a lot more mundane. Yes, there are stories about signs reading 'no foreigners' in English or 'if you can read this, you can come in' in Japanese, but these are the exceptions, not the rules.
If you want to save yourself from what might be the worst experience you'll have in an otherwise fabulous country, here are a few tips to get you through the door.
Reserve ahead
It can take the spontaneity out of an evening but in Japan, it pays to be prepared. The restaurants are small, the space is limited, and the most common reason you'll be turned away from one is because they're fully booked.
Making a reservation might sound simple until you try to navigate a Japanese booking system, at which point you'll realise that their three alphabets are probably two too many. It can be impossible to book anything without a Japanese phone number or a name that can be spelt in hiragana. You're going to have to make a lot of these bookings when you hit the ground.
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