1,140 Japanese Restaurants in Singapore: Where They Open and Who Supplies Them (2026)

Singapore had about 1,140 Japanese restaurants in 2025, according to the count published by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, down 6% from the 1,210 counted in 2023. This guide puts the official numbers, the restaurant formats, the price points, the Michelin list and the 2026 trends in one place, for the companies that supply, equip, train, finance or franchise those restaurants, and for owners planning the next one.

How many Japanese restaurants are there in Singapore?

Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) counts Japanese restaurants outside Japan every two years from Ministry of Foreign Affairs data. The figures are approximate and include every restaurant that presents itself as Japanese, whoever owns it. In the MAFF table published 28 November 2025, Singapore has about 1,140 Japanese restaurants, down 70 from the 2023 survey, a fall of about 5.8 percent. Nineteen countries or regions have more, so Singapore ranks about 20th worldwide. The global top five are China with 63,500, the United States with 26,360, South Korea with 19,800, Mexico with 7,430 and Taiwan with 7,100. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia has 6,580 after adding 2,580, Thailand has 5,920 after adding 590, Malaysia has 2,200 after adding 310, Vietnam has 1,820 after adding 200 and the Philippines has 940 after adding 180. Hong Kong has 1,480 after adding 80. Singapore is the only Southeast Asian market in the table whose count fell. Worldwide the count fell by about 6,000 to about 181,000, and Asia fell by about 9,600, or roughly 10 percent, according to the MAFF press release of the same date.

Where are they, and what do they serve?

Fine-dining Japanese restaurants cluster in two downtown zones. Of the eight Japanese-cuisine restaurants holding MICHELIN stars in the 2026 Singapore selection, four sit in the Marina Bay and Marina Centre area: Sushi Sakuta and Tenshima at Millenia Walk, Shoukouwa at One Fullerton and Waku Ghin at Marina Bay Sands. Three sit in the Orchard and Tanglin area: Sushi Ichi at 320 Orchard Road, Sushi Kimura + at Conrad Orchard on Cuscaden Road and Omakase @ Stevens at 30 Stevens Road. One, Hamamoto, is in Tanjong Pagar at 58 Tras Street. (MICHELIN Guide official restaurant pages, Singapore, checked 2026-11-05)

Casual Japanese chains reach the suburbs through shopping malls. The official Sushiro Singapore outlet list shows 26 operating outlets as of 5 November 2026, from Orchard Road locations such as Wisma Atria, Isetan Scotts and Orchard Gateway to suburban malls such as Tampines 1, Causeway Point in Woodlands, Waterway Point in Punggol, Lot One in Choa Chu Kang, Hougang Mall and Bukit Panjang Plaza. The list also marks the Taste Orchard outlet as permanently closed and the Parkway Parade outlet as temporarily closed. (Sushiro Singapore official site, Contact and Location page, checked 2026-11-05)

What do Japanese restaurants in Singapore charge?

Published prices from public sources, as of the date shown. They are reference points, not averages.

Michelin-starred Japanese restaurants in Singapore

The Michelin Guide lists 8 starred restaurants in Singapore in its Japanese and sushi categories (2026-08). (MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2026 selection, announced 4 August 2026, with 3 three-star, 9 two-star and 33 one-star restaurants. Eight of the 45 starred restaurants serve Japanese cuisine as labelled by the guide, Sushi, Tempura, Japanese Contemporary, or Japanese-French Innovative. In the 2025 selection, announced 24 July 2025, Sushi Sakuta was the only promotion to two stars and Omakase @ Stevens was the only new one star, and its chef Kazuki Arimoto won the Young Chef Award. Esora, a one-star Japanese restaurant in the 2025 list, closed in December 2025.)

• Shoukouwa, Singapore, One Fullerton: 2 stars
• Sushi Sakuta, Singapore, Millenia Walk: 2 stars, promoted from one star in July 2025
• Hamamoto, Singapore, Tras Street: 1 star
• Sushi Ichi, Singapore, Orchard Road: 1 star
• Sushi Kimura +, Singapore, Conrad Orchard: 1 star, new in August 2026
• Tenshima, Singapore, Millenia Walk: 1 star, new in August 2026, Tempura
• Waku Ghin, Singapore, Marina Bay Sands: 1 star, Japanese Contemporary
• Omakase @ Stevens, Singapore, Stevens Road: 1 star, new in July 2025, listed as Innovative with Japanese and French influences

What is changing in 2026?

Who owns and opens Japanese restaurants in Singapore?

Japan Foods Holding, listed on the Singapore Exchange, operated 79 restaurants and reported revenue of S$86.4 million and a net loss of S$495,000 for the year ended 31 March 2024, blaming higher manpower costs, utilities and depreciation and warning of a manpower shortage and intense competition. This is the latest available verified figure for the group. (The Edge Singapore via Yahoo Finance, 24 May 2024)

Food & Life Companies of Japan runs Sushiro in Singapore directly. Its international restaurant count rose from 178 in October 2024 to 227 in September 2025 across all markets, and Singapore was its first Southeast Asian market in 2019. The official Sushiro Singapore outlet list shows 26 operating outlets as of 5 November 2026. (Food & Life Companies, Store Count FY2025/9; Food & Life Companies corporate news, 6 March 2025; Sushiro Singapore official site)

Watami, the Tokyo-based izakaya group, ran seven Japanese restaurants in Singapore when it agreed to buy Singapore supplier Leader Food and two related companies in December 2023, its first overseas acquisition. This is the latest available figure. (Nikkei Asia, 30 December 2023)

Franchised and foreign-owned casual chains have been the ones to exit. Kanada-Ya's Singapore outlets were run by SGX-listed property group Aspen Group under a franchise and were liquidated in June 2025 after the franchisor's founder died and support fell. Itacho Sushi was a subsidiary of Hong Kong's Taste of Japan Group and closed in March 2026. (Mothership, 12 June 2025; Inside Retail Asia, 17 March 2026)

Starred Japanese restaurants are chef-led independents rather than chains. The MICHELIN Guide names Yoshio Sakuta at Sushi Sakuta, Kazuhiro Hamamoto at Hamamoto, Tomoo Kimura at Sushi Kimura + and Kazuki Arimoto at Omakase @ Stevens, each working an eight to 16 seat counter. (MICHELIN Guide Singapore restaurant pages, checked 2026-11-05)

Locally owned Japanese restaurants are a growing share of buyers of Japanese ingredients. JETRO reported in July 2022 that more local Japanese restaurants were switching to Japanese rice, and that import licences are easy to obtain so some restaurants import directly instead of through Japanese-food wholesalers. (JETRO, 農林水産物・食品 国別マーケティング基礎情報 シンガポール, July 2022)

Recent openings and expansions reported in public sources:

• Nikuya Tanaka, a Tokyo wagyu steakhouse, opened its first restaurant outside Japan at 1 Teck Lim Road in September 2025, with a 10-seat counter and a five-seat private room, run by chefs Yosuke Sekiguchi and Masaya Yano. (The Peak Singapore, 5 September 2025; Stomp, The Straits Times, 16 October 2025)
• Chef Tomoo Kimura returned in 2025 with Sushi Kimura +, an eight-seat counter at Conrad Orchard, 1 Cuscaden Road, which received a MICHELIN star in the 2026 selection announced on 4 August 2026. His earlier Sushi Kimura at Palais Renaissance had closed. (MICHELIN Guide, 4 August 2026; The Peak Singapore, 24 July 2025)
• Omakase @ Stevens, a 16-seat counter at 30 Stevens Road led by Osaka-born chef Kazuki Arimoto, won a MICHELIN star within a year of opening, in the 2025 selection announced on 24 July 2025. (MICHELIN Guide Singapore 2025 full list, 24 July 2025; Omakase @ Stevens official site)
• Sushiro kept adding Singapore outlets through 2025 and 2026. Its official outlet list as of 5 November 2026 includes Our Tampines Hub, New Bahru, 100AM, Chinatown Point, Hougang Mall and Bukit Panjang Plaza among 26 operating outlets, while the Taste Orchard outlet closed after 25 December 2025. (Sushiro Singapore official site, checked 2026-11-05; Mothership, December 2025)
• Exits: Kanada-Ya closed its three ramen outlets at PLQ Mall, Marina Square and Jem in June 2025. Esora, a one-MICHELIN-star Japanese restaurant in River Valley, closed at the end of December 2025. Itacho Sushi closed its remaining four outlets at ION Orchard, Bugis Junction, The Star Vista and Novena Square 2 in March 2026, after earlier closures at Tampines Mall and Bedok Mall. (Mothership, 12 June 2025; The Peak Singapore, 29 December 2025; Stomp, The Straits Times, 15 March 2026)

Who supplies, equips and finances these restaurants?

Agricultural products made up JPY 46.0 billion or 81.6 percent, fishery products JPY 9.8 billion or 17.3 percent and forestry products JPY 0.6 billion. The top three items in 2025 were alcoholic beverages at JPY 10.0 billion, beef at JPY 3.6 billion and scallops at JPY 2.0 billion. MAFF said Japanese whisky exports rose JPY 5.3 billion nationwide in 2025 mainly on demand from Singapore. Japan's total agri-food exports reached JPY 1,700.5 billion in 2025, up 12.8 percent and a record for the 13th year. (MAFF, 令和7年（2025年）農林水産物・食品の輸出実績（国・地域別）, Singapore pages; MAFF, 2025年 農林水産物・食品の輸出額; JETRO Business News, 21 April 2026, 2026-04)

Every one of these restaurants buys fish, rice, soy sauce and sake, fits out a kitchen, trains staff and signs a lease. Washoku Agent places Japanese chefs in restaurants in Singapore and 25 other countries, and every placement starts with a restaurant that is opening, expanding or changing its chef. That moment matters to the companies behind the restaurant as much as to the owner. For the importers and wholesalers already serving Japanese kitchens here, see our guide to Japanese food suppliers in Singapore.

Hiring Japanese chefs in Singapore

Owners who open or expand in Singapore ask the same three questions: which visa, what to pay, and how to keep the chef past the first year. Our guide to hiring and managing Japanese chefs in Singapore answers them with official visa rules and the positions we have handled, and What restaurants pay Japanese chefs in six countries puts the advertised salaries side by side. To see what individual restaurants offered since 2025, country by country, open What restaurants offered Japanese chefs abroad.

Frequently asked questions

Opening or growing a Japanese restaurant? You can bring in an experienced Japanese chef for a defined piece of work, such as a new menu, training for your team, or help with an opening. See how a project works.