How to book Chukasoba Ginza Hachigou

Chukasoba Ginza Hachigou is a small ramen counter on the ground floor of the Daiichi Hanabusa building at 3-14-2 Ginza, Tokyo. It opens at 11am for walk-in diners, who queue and buy tickets from a vending machine, and seats from noon go to guests who reserved. It closes when the day's soup runs out, every Monday and on some Tuesdays¹.

The head chef, Mr. Matsumura, spent 36 years as a French chef at the ANA Kyoto Hotel, now the ANA Crowne Plaza Hotel Kyoto, before starting over in ramen. He first opened Chuka Soba Katsumoto and then Tsuke Soba Kanda Katsumoto, and made Ginza Hachigou the shop where he put all he had learned, aiming for "a full course in a bowl"².

The soup is built from duck, chicken, scallops and shiitake and, unusually for ramen, uses no seasoning sauce: cured ham added at the end gives it its salt¹. The Michelin inspectors describe the flavours being drawn out in the way of a consommé, and wontons filled with foie gras and truffle paste³. The thin noodles come from the Asakusa Kaikaro noodle maker and were developed to suit the clear golden soup^1,4.

The room is meant to feel like a Japanese kappo restaurant, with careful lighting, a long counter and classical music. House rules ask for one bowl per person, no cash, no children of elementary school age or younger, and photos of the food only¹. The MICHELIN Guide lists it with a Bib Gourmand in its 2026 selection³.