Akita Dining Namahagé Ginza — Restaurant in Tokyo

Very friendly and vibrant staff! I only speak basic/elementary Japanese, enough to get around as a tourist and it was enough to make our visit here easy and pleasant. Only one staff member spoke basic English when we visited so I’m sure it helped that I knew a little Japanese.

When we first entered I asked staff if anyone spoke English (in Japanese) and they weren’t sure and looked a bit hesitant but they found one person who could speak a little and he was the one who looked after us the whole night.

The staff here were really friendly to us, making the effort to learn a little Japanese really goes a long way. My Japanese isn’t perfect but staff accommodated us really well and did so with a smile.

I’m guessing the majority of their customers are Japanese so if you do come to this restaurant be prepared to go outside your comfort zone, this isn’t a tourist joint like many in Shibuya/Shinjuku.

They do have an English menu but it is very limited and doesn’t show everything on the Japanese menu. Our server was able to translate and recommend dishes on the Japanese menu for us - (to ask for the persons recommendation say: “osusume wa?” , staff will understand what that means).

Our server prepared the hot pot for us, adding the ingredients carefully in order/several batches and explained what everything was.

We were seated in a private booth with tatami seats which was nice and a cool experience, great for pictures. You get slippers to use when you go to the bathroom because you have to take your shoes off when you sit on the tatami mat. There’s also a call button on the table to call a server.

They give you complimentary side dishes when you first sit (included in the service/table charge which is charged per person which is standard so don’t panic if you see you’ve been charged a little extra).

The food was great, liked the Akita grilled chicken and tofu the most. The prices are a little pricey, but you’re in Ginza (an expensive area) and it’s a great Japanese experience.

When I asked one of the servers where the toilet was (in Japanese) they literally guided/walked me over there.

We unfortunately came in between their namahage/spirit/demon/demigod show where the masked person comes out and tries to scare you so we didn’t get to experience that.

But as we were leaving, staff did offer to take our pictures and they gave us free restaurant souvenirs. Handheld fans with the restaurants branding to use when it gets hot etc etc.

Overall a very positive experience, bookmarked for the next time...

Went here with a friend that use to live in Akita. The overall experience was great and I enjoyed it very much. The food was delicious and the Namahage performance was really cool, but I think going with someone that is from Akita gives you so much context for the food and performances that really elevated it for me. One thing worth mentioning is this place is very popular with locals, especially on the weekends, and there is limited seating so a reservation is strongly encouraged, maybe even required, but I can safely say...

This place is amazing! The food is authentic food from this prefecture of Japan. And if you time it just right a real life demon called a namahage will come out to terrorize you and any children since it's favorite food is naughty kiddos 😋. It's all in good fun. I will admit, the scariest part was when the namahage asked if I was the naughty child in English and I was too shocked to answer so my sister...