Sushi Fukuhara

For all the attention Kanagawa's sushi pulls toward the coast, one of its most quietly accomplished counters sits inland, in a residential fold of Kawasaki's Takatsu ward (高津区), a five-minute walk from Kajigaya Station along the old Ooyama-kaido road. Sushi Fukuhara (鮨 福原) is the kind of room a city keeps for itself: no sea view, no spectacle, just an eight-seat counter, head chef Fukuhara Naoki, and a meal built on patience. Its selection to the Tabelog Sushi EAST Hyakumeiten (百名店) 2025 — the guide's hundred-best list for eastern Japan — is the clearest signal that the craft here clears a high bar.

The argument Fukuhara makes is about jukusei (熟成), aging. Where a coastal counter leans on the morning's catch, this room leans on time — judging the moment a fish's flavor opens, managing temperature and storage so that the nigiri arrives at its peak rather than merely its freshest. The course runs to a high proportion of nigiri, and the house keeps around thirty jizake (地酒), regional sake, to drink alongside. Be honest with yourself about what this counter is and is not: the fish comes through trusted suppliers and Toyosu (豊洲), not off a Sagami Bay boat, so a traveler who came to Kanagawa to taste Sagami-wan (相模湾) specifically will find Sushi Nara in Zushi the truer fit. What Fukuhara offers instead is technique — the discipline of aging, the rhythm of the hands.

At ¥22,000 for the nigiri omakase (the house also runs a longer ¥28,600 course with more small plates, and a lighter ¥19,800 option), the price lands squarely in the satisfaction band, with room for sake within a reasonable budget. Confirm the final figure, any service charge, and which course you are booking when you reserve, since the lineup shifts with the season.

Two honest caveats. The evening runs as two seatings (around 17:00 and 19:30), which trades away some of the unhurried stillness a single seating allows, and the room carries four tatami seats beyond the eight at the counter — so it is not a pure small box. And photography is unconfirmed: reviewers post dish photos, which suggests it is tolerated, but nothing official says so, and the booking script in our guides exists for exactly that question. Kajigaya is an easy reach on the Tokyu Denentoshi line from Shibuya, which makes this an unusually accessible counter for a Hyakumeiten room — the trade for the inland address is that you come for the hands, not the bay.