Sushikoma

A 4.49-rated omakase counter in rural Akita — and one of the most decorated sushi restaurants in eastern Japan

Sushikoma holds a Tabelog Silver Award for 2024, 2025, and 2026, a Tabelog Bronze in 2023, and has been selected for the Tabelog Sushi EAST "Tabelog 100" in 2021, 2022, and 2025. Its score of 4.49 puts it among the most consistently rated sushi counters outside Tokyo or Osaka. The question for most visitors is not whether the quality is there — it is , but whether it is worth planning a trip to Yurihonjo, a mid-sized city in Akita prefecture, to eat at an 8-seat house restaurant that opens just four days a week.

The answer is yes, with conditions. If you are already in Akita prefecture, Sushikoma is the clearest reason to extend your itinerary toward Yurihonjo. If you are planning a dedicated omakase trip to Japan, the competition from counters like Harutaka in Tokyo or Gion Sasaki in Kyoto is stiff. But Sushikoma offers something those counters cannot: fish sourced directly by the owner from Akita and Miyagi waters, served in a setting with no tourist markup and no waiting-list arms race.

What to expect

The format is omakase, and the counter seats eight. The space is described as a house restaurant , intimate, counter-only, with a tatami room also available. There are no private rooms, so this is not the venue for a conversation-heavy business dinner. It works well for a date, a solo meal, or a small group celebration where the food is the event. The venue explicitly accommodates solo diners and family groups, and the occasion guidance on Tabelog flags it as particularly well-suited for all three configurations.

Drink options are sake and shochu , no wine list. If your celebration relies on a serious wine program, note that Sushikoma does not offer one. The pairing here is sake-led, which fits the sourcing philosophy and the regional context. For the food-and-sake combination, the logic is coherent; for guests who assess a special-occasion meal partly through its wine list, this is the most relevant trade-off to weigh before booking. Venues like HAJIME in Osaka or akordu in Nara offer more developed beverage programs if that matters to your group.

Pricing and value

Dinner starts from 14,000 yen per person, with review-based averages trending toward JPY 15,000–19,999 at dinner. Lunch starts from 8,800 yen. At that price, Sushikoma sits comfortably below what a comparable Tabelog Silver counter in Tokyo would charge for the same format , and the sourcing quality, anchored in Akita and Miyagi seafood, is not a compromise position. For context, Tokyo omakase counters with equivalent Tabelog recognition routinely run JPY 30,000 or more at dinner. The value case here is genuine. For a special occasion where you want the full omakase experience without the Tokyo price floor, this is one of the more defensible bookings in eastern Japan.

Practical details

Booking difficulty and timing

Booking difficulty is rated Easy relative to Tokyo omakase counters, but that does not mean same-week availability is guaranteed. With only 8 seats and four service days per week, total weekly capacity is small. Reservations are required for all sittings. Given the Silver Award status and 4.49 Tabelog score, booking a week or two in advance is sensible, particularly for weekend dinner slots. Reaching the venue by phone (0184-23-5511) is the primary contact method, as no official website is listed. Note that the phone may be unreachable on regular holidays.

If you are planning around a special occasion, Thursday or Saturday lunch (from 8,800 yen) gives you the full omakase format at a lower price point and is worth considering if dinner slots are full or if the budget is a factor. The lunch and dinner formats run from the same counter and sourcing; the price difference is not a quality proxy.

How It Compares

See the full comparison section below for how Sushikoma stacks up against Akita peers including Nihon Ryori Takamura, affetto akita, f, giueme, and Kyu. For the full picture of what Akita has to offer, see our full Akita restaurants guide, plus our guides to Akita hotels, Akita bars, Akita wineries, and Akita experiences.