63,500 Japanese Restaurants in China: Where They Open and Who Supplies Them (2026)

China had about 63,500 Japanese restaurants in 2025, according to the count published by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, down 19% from the 78,760 counted in 2023. This guide puts the official numbers, the restaurant formats, the price points, the awarded restaurants 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 China?

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. China remains the largest single market in the MAFF 2025 count with about 63,500 Japanese restaurants, ahead of the United States at 26,360, South Korea at 19,800, Mexico at 7,430 and Taiwan at 7,100. China alone accounts for roughly 35 percent of the world total of about 181,000 and more than half of Asia's about 112,400. China also recorded by far the largest decline of any country (minus 15,260 since 2023), which MAFF attributes to economic stagnation in China; Asia as a whole fell about 10 percent (from about 122,000 to about 112,400) and the world total fell for the first time (from about 187,000 to about 181,000).

Where are they, and what do they serve?

East China (Shanghai, Jiangsu, Zhejiang and neighbours) holds about 38 percent of China's Japanese restaurants, followed by South China with 18 percent, North China 12 percent, Central China 11 percent, Southwest 10 percent, Northeast 9 percent and Northwest 3 percent (Chenzhi Big Data, Q3 2023, as cited by JETRO). (JETRO China Export Support Platform, Country report on agricultural, forestry and fishery product exports to China (January 2026), page 4)

Hongcan Big Data counted more than 54,000 Japanese restaurants nationwide as of March 2025, with nearly 40 percent in East China and 21.2 percent in South China; Guangdong province alone has the most stores (14.7 percent of the national total), followed by Jiangsu and Zhejiang. (Hongcan, Japanese cuisine category report 2025, republished by PEdaily (投资界), 2025-03-28)

Shanghai has about 4,000 Japanese restaurants (Shanghai municipal government website, cited by JETRO). Stores cluster in Pudong, Changning and Minhang districts and in areas with many Japanese companies and foreign residents. (JETRO China Export Support Platform, City comparison of acceptance of Japanese ingredients and alcohol: Shanghai, Beijing, Tianjin, Xi'an (June 2026), page 7)

Tianjin has 776 Japanese restaurants listed on Dianping (as of early March 2026); 92.8 percent of them have an average spend of about JPY 4,000 or less per head. In Beijing, Japanese restaurants are concentrated in a limited number of commercial districts rather than spread across the city as in Shanghai. (JETRO China Export Support Platform, City comparison report (June 2026), pages 14 and 21)

What do Japanese restaurants in China charge?

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

Michelin-starred Japanese restaurants in China

The Michelin Guide lists 0 starred restaurants in China in its Japanese and sushi categories (2026). (No restaurant classified as Japanese or Sushi cuisine appears among the starred restaurants named in the official 2026 releases for Shanghai | Jiangsu | Zhejiang (77 stars, 51 in Shanghai, 2026-04-09), Beijing 2026 (32 stars, 2025-10-28), Guangzhou | Shenzhen 2026 (27 stars, 2026-08-21) or Chengdu 2027 (15 stars, 2026-09-11). The releases name only new or promoted restaurants plus all two and three stars, so retained one-star lists were not fully visible. Starred restaurants with Japanese influence are listed above as examples.)

• Chōwa, Guangzhou: 1 star (MICHELIN Guide Guangzhou | Shenzhen 2026); cuisine listed as Innovative, described as Franco-Japanese fusion
• Focus by Bill Yue, Chengdu: 1 star, new in the MICHELIN Guide Chengdu 2027 selection (2026-09-11); listed as Innovative, described as Japanese-French fusion
• Narisawa (Shanghai), Shanghai: 1 star in the MICHELIN Guide Shanghai 2025 (announced 2024-11-18), cuisine listed as Innovative with Japanese satoyama roots; the 2026 release does not name retained one-star restaurants, so 2026 status is not confirmed
• Numata Sou (Shanghai), Shanghai: MICHELIN Selected (not starred), tempura, in the Shanghai 2025 selection

What is changing in 2026?

Who owns and opens Japanese restaurants in China?

JETRO describes two groups: mid to high-end restaurants often run by Japanese owners, and a large mass-market segment (ramen, donburi, izakaya) where Chinese owners and chefs frequently adapt dishes to local taste. No official share of Japanese-owned versus locally owned restaurants is published. (JETRO China Export Support Platform, Country report China (January 2026), page 3)

The largest sushi chains in China are Chinese owned: N Duo Sushi (N多寿司) has more than 3,000 stores, Xian Mulu Sushi (鲜目录寿司) more than 1,000 and Zheng Xian (争鲜) more than 400, according to restaurant database Zhaimen Canyan as of June 2025. Hongcan ranks N Duo Sushi first with over 2,000 stores as of March 2025. (Business Insider Japan, 2025-07-01; Hongcan via PEdaily, 2025-03-28)

Japanese listed chains present in China include Sushiro (Greater China 160 stores at September 2025), Hama Sushi (Zensho, more than 100 stores in 2025), Yoshinoya (more than 500 stores) and Saizeriya (about 500 stores, Italian menu). Kura Sushi withdrew from mainland China in July 2025, closing its three Shanghai stores two years after entry. (FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES FY2025 presentation (2025-11-07); Business Insider Japan (2025-07-01); Hongcan via 36Kr (2025-11-18); ITmedia Business (2025-07-04))

Japanese-owned independents serve a mixed clientele: the owner of Shanghai sushi restaurant Merase told Reuters in November 2025 that Chinese customers make up about half of bookings and that some fish can only be sourced from Japan. (Reuters via Arab News, Japanese restaurant owners in China lament flare-up in diplomatic tensions, 2025-11-20)

Recent openings and expansions reported in public sources:

• Sushiro (FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES) opened its first two Shanghai stores on 2025-12-06: Sushiro Shanghai Global Harbor (Putuo) and Sushiro Zhongshan Park Cloud Nine (Changning). The company says it will keep widening its mainland footprint in FY2026. (FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES corporate news 2025 and FY2025 results presentation page 29)
• Sushiro entered East China with its first Suzhou store on 2024-12-24 (Suzhou Center) and its first Hangzhou store in April 2025, after Beijing (August 2024) and Tianjin (May 2024). (FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES corporate news, 2025-01-29; FY2025 results presentation pages 12 and 27)
• Yoshinoya Holdings opened the first overseas store of its Kyoto ramen brand Kirameki no Tori (煌面ノ屋) on 2025-11-13 in the Henderson Metropolitan mall on Nanjing East Road, Shanghai (23 seats, signature chicken paitan ramen RMB 39), returning to mainland ramen after closing its previous ramen chain there in June 2024. (Data Max, 2025-11; Hongcan via 36Kr, 2025-11-18)
• Torikizoku (Eternal Hospitality Group) set up Torikizoku Shanghai Co., Ltd. in November 2024 and opened its first Shanghai yakitori store in February 2025, with uniform pricing of RMB 18 per item; Nikkei reported in August 2025 a plan for 100 Shanghai stores. (Eternal Hospitality Group annual securities report (EDINET, company history); SCMP via The Star, 2025-11-04)
• Machida Shoten (Gift Holdings) opened its first mainland ramen store in Shanghai in September 2024 and two more Shanghai stores in the second half of 2025; its signature ramen costs RMB 36 in Shanghai. (Hongcan via 36Kr, 2025-11-18)
• Kura Sushi announced on 2025-07-02 that it was withdrawing from mainland China, closing all three Shanghai stores opened since June 2023, against an original target of 100 mainland stores in ten years. (ITmedia Business, 2025-07-04; Business Insider Japan, 2025-07-01)

Who supplies, equips and finances these restaurants?

Main export items to China in 2023 were alcoholic beverages, scallops, logs, soft drinks and confectionery (JETRO). In 2025 the largest increases were nishikigoi (koi carp, resumed after facility re-registration), beer and logs. Fishery exports collapsed under the import suspension in force from August 2023, with only a brief conditional reopening between June and November 2025. JETRO notes that sake is sold mainly through Japanese restaurants and that most Japanese seafood consumption in China was in Japanese restaurants before the ban. (MAFF, 2025 export results of agricultural, forestry and fishery products and food (2026-02-03), PDF 260203-1; JETRO Marketing Basic Information China (updated 2024-10))

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 China 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.

Hiring Japanese chefs in China

Owners who open or expand in China 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 China 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.