/01
Tomoki Arai
Master Chef / Itamae
Thirty years at the bar. One knife, sharpened each dawn.
Est. 1995 · Counter of twelve · 古舗
Twelve seats.One knife.Silence by design.
An omakase counter in Aoyama, guided by a single chef and thirty years of daily practice. No menu. No photograph. Nine courses, one evening, in rooms measured by the weight of quiet.
No. 001 / 2026
Hoshikumo
O-toro / yuzu kosho
Opening course一
02 / Philosophy
To cut fish is to listen. To set rice is to wait. Hospitality lives in the pause between.
— Tomoki Arai, itamae
04 / Seasons
Four seasons,
one bar.
The counter changes its language with the weather. In thirty years we have not served the same menu twice; only the discipline behind it has repeated.
春 / 夏 / 秋 / 冬
春
Haru/ Spring
Sayori, sakura-ebi, a first trace of bamboo shoot.
Board 01Spring
夏
Natsu/ Summer
Aji brightened with ginger. Hamo cooled on river stone.
Board 02Summer
秋
Aki/ Autumn
Sanma kissed by the charcoal, matsutake in clear broth.
Board 03Autumn
冬
Fuyu/ Winter
Buri ripened in snow. Fugu softened by time.
Board 04Winter
05 / In numbers
A room measured in restraint.
数 / enumeration
/01十二
12
seats at the counter, no more
/02九
9
courses each evening, in silence
/03三十
30
years of daily sharpening
/04一
1
knife the chef has carried since 1995
One knife, sharpened each dawn since 1995
06 / The counter
Four hands, one bar.
/02
Mira Fujiwara
Sous / Tachiba
Rice-maker. Guardian of temperature and vinegar.
/03
Kenji Hara
Apprentice / Wakiita
Fifth year. Trusted with the knife only for garnish.
/04
Ayako Sun
Counter Host / Jokyu
Keeps the silence. Pours the tea. Reads the room.
Single blade
Spring water
Binchotan
95 minutes
07 / Guests
In their own quiet.
“For an hour and a half no one spoke above a whisper. It was the most attentive meal of my life — I could hear the rice being shaped.”
Leo M.
Kyoto · Guest since 2019
08 / Enquiries
Before you sit down.
A few answers, kept brief. If yours is not here, we answer letters in the old way — by hand, in a day or two.
Opening again · 01 May
Request a counter seat.
Twelve seats per seating. Requests are reviewed by hand, in the order we receive them. A short letter goes further than a long form.
Aoyama · Tokyo · 03-1995-0101古舗 · Est. 1995