Reviews & Ratings in Japan: How to Decode
A small ramen joint tucked away on a side street in a town near us has a 3.3-star rating on Google, and a 3.24 score on a popular Japanese review site. The line goes from the front door down the block before it even opens, with a loyal following who know this is the real deal.
Not too far from that restaurant, in a touristy part of Osaka, a distinctly mediocre ramen restaurant (where locals would never darken the doorway) shows as being a “4.5-star” establishment on Google Maps.
Welcome to the parallel universe of review and rating systems in Japan, where numbers don’t necessarily mean what you think they mean.
Just like how Japanese food in Japan is different from Japanese food abroad, the same is true about ratings for restaurants and other places.
If you’re traveling to Japan and plan to use Google and/or similar review sites to plan your meals and attractions, how do you know what’s the real number? In this edition of the Japan Travel Pros blog, we’ll break it all down for you, so that you’ll be able to sort it all out and decipher what’s worth the wait and where to avoid.
The Cultural Math of Ratings
In North America, the typical review starts at 5 stars. Then we’ll take off points for this or that – such as a delay in service, mistaken orders, food not up to par, or otherwise not having expectations met. Even then, giving a 3-star rating for a restaurant, store, hotel or attraction already indicates that you were somehow disappointed, and 1- or 2 stars are generally reserved for really bad experiences.
So when looking at Google, for example, anything less than a 4-star rating is usually cause for concern, and many people will tell you that they actively avoid places with a 3.9-star rating or less (even 4.0 starts to make some of us a little weary).
Meanwhile, the average Japanese reviewer starts their review with 3 stars. A 3-star rating in Japan isn't a passive-aggressive slight; it's a genuine acknowledgment that an establishment successfully provided its intended service. The jump from 3 to 3.5 stars represents a leap across a chasm of quality that Western rating systems can't begin to comprehend. And a 5-star review from a Japanese person is almost unheard of.
Conversely, Japan’s libel laws (more on this later) cause many reviewers to be hesitant in what they say, so it’s more common that they will take out their frustrations with a 1-star or 2-star rating without really explaining what went wrong.
That’s why a business with a 3.1-star rating or above in Japan is probably going to be good. And Japan being the food culture that it is, a restaurant with a 3.2-star rating is a solid bet, while anyplace at 3.4 or higher is going to be a banger pretty much every time.
Except for one small caveat. Well, not so small anymore, given the influx of visitors abroad thanks to the Japan travel boom.
A business or attraction in a tourist area is more likely to have an inflated star rating. That’s because we’re seeing more and more Americans (who tend to start their scale at 5 stars) and Europeans (who are a bit more likely to give slightly lower star ratings, but nowhere near as low as Japanese reviewers) visiting Japan.
Yes, it’s true, as international tourism increases, Japan's carefully calibrated rating system is experiencing what we'll politely call "rating inflation." Areas with high concentration of tourists are seeing scores skyrocket not because the quality has improved (in fact, sometimes the opposite), but because Western visitors are applying their "start at 5" mentality to Japanese establishments.
A Tale of Two Restaurants
Consider this real-world scenario: Restaurant A, located in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, has 4.3 stars. Restaurant B, hidden in a residential area of Kawasaki, has 3.2 stars. Plot twist: Restaurant B is significantly better.
Restaurant A has simply benefited from catering to international expectations, while Restaurant B focuses on maintaining quality for its local clientele who understand that 3.2 stars means "this place is actually damn good!"
In a way, we could say that such a discrepancy keeps the local places available for locals in Japan, while tourists flock to the inflated (but often nothing special) places in tourist zones.
But what if the distinction is harder to make?
There are, after all, areas in Japan — particularly in Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto, among a handful of other destinations popular with international visitors – that have overlap of Japanese and non-Japanese alike. Are the review scores in these districts comingling, increasingly harder to tell what’s legit and what’s been inflated?
In a nutshell, yes.
The Tourist Equation Paradox
The correlation is almost mathematical: as the number of English reviews increases, the reliability of the overall rating decreases.
It's not that international reviewers are wrong; they're just playing a different game with different rules. A Western tourist giving 5 stars for "adequate service & good food" is inadvertently contributing to a ratings arms race that Japanese reviewers never signed up for.
A popular chain of conveyor belt sushi eateries in Japan would be a great example.
One of its locations, in a neighborhood in Tokyo that’s very popular among tourists, has a 4.3-star rating. Another location, in a quiet, rural area of Hyogo prefecture, has a 3.2-star rating. This chain goes through strict measures to ensure product and service consistency across its locations, and yet look at the discrepancy in ratings!
If we extrapolate this across a variety of restaurants and other business & attractions, you can see how tourist areas suffer from ratings inflation.
So a 4.5-star restaurant in a very touristy area could very well be a tourist trap, or at least overrated and worth fighting the FOMO urge — you can do better by eating in a local joint, even with a lower star rating. It’s a myth of Japan if anyone (e.g. a “content creator” or “influencer”) tells you that you “have to” go to that restaurant in Tsukiji or Nishiki “markets”. Nah, those are tourist traps, and now you know.
How Tabelog Is Trying to Level the Playing Field
That’s why some savvy Japanese review sites have even started implementing weighted scoring systems that account for reviewer nationality. The popular review site Tabelog, for example, is doing just that.
A 3.2 restaurant rating from a user with several hundred reviews over a number of years will carry more weight than a tourist rating the same restaurant 5 stars on his or her first review.
Does this make Tabelog more reliable for local restaurants in Japan versus Google? We’ll let you be the judge (but we’ve been finding this to be the case quite often these days).
The Michelin Paradox
Even the Michelin Guide has had to adapt its criteria for Japan.
Many restaurants that would easily score a Michelin star (or even a Bib Gourmand rating) based on food quality alone miss out because they don't meet Michelin’s expectations for service presentation or ambiance.
Yet these same establishments often provide a more authentic & memorable dining experience than their higher-rated counterparts.
Restaurants: Reading Between the Numbers
Want to find genuinely good places in Japan? Let’s attempt to decode the ratings:
In Tourist Areas
4.5+ stars: Potentially good, but verify with Japanese reviews
4.0 stars: Exercise caution; check the review distribution
3.8 stars: Might actually be excellent; read Japanese reviews if possible
In Local Areas
3.5+ stars: Exceptional; worth planning your day around
3.2-3.4 stars: Very good; reliable quality
3.0-3.1 stars: Solid choices; often better than 4-star tourist spots
Of course, this is more art than science. And the ratings system is very fluid, so expect things to change over time.
In the meantime, let’s continue to seek out those hidden gems in Japan. We know that the ratings are going to be more consistent in local neighborhoods in Tokyo, Osaka & Kyoto, for example, and the food will probably better as well.
A Bad Review (Even If True) Can Be Grounds for a Defamation Lawsuit!
Japan’s libel and slander laws are quite different from other countries.
Did you know that, even if true, accusations made about a negative experience with a business can be grounds for a lawsuit?
It’s true!
Posting a factual accounting of events or experiences, despite being true or at least a firsthand depiction, can lead to a lawsuit (some of which have been successful) if the review is seen to have had a negative impact on the business in question.
Now, we’re not lawyers here at Japan Travel Pros. We’re not qualified to explain the intricacies of these laws very well.
But we can say, with certitude, that it’s probably wise to exercise caution when leaving a review. Having said that, you can find plenty of examples of Japanese reviewers giving 1-star or 2-star reviews; in those cases, they tend not to say much, as it’s the actual words that would land them in trouble.
For example, if we were to write a review of a restaurant in Japan on this website (such as a restaurant review of a famous ramen chain), we would be very careful to state facts without showing bias or extreme opinions.
As the reader, you might want to read between the lines to determine whether we actually felt “neutral” about the experience, as the review might somehow imply, or if we actually hated it but didn’t want to run afoul of the laws.
Frequently Asked Questions About Reviews & Ratings in Japan
How Can I Tell if a Rating is Reliable?
Check the ratio of Japanese to English reviews; more Japanese reviews generally mean more accurate ratings
Why Don't Japanese Reviewers Just Adapt to the 5-Star System?
Cultural perspectives on evaluation & praise differ fundamentally; it's not just about numbers. Also, this is Japan, and Japanese are correct to do things the Japanese way.
Are There Any Review Sites That Handle This Better Than Others?
Japanese sites like Tabelog tend to maintain more consistent rating standards. This could change going forward, possibly, as those sites add English reviews.
How Do I Find Good Places Without Speaking Japanese?
Focus on establishments with predominantly Japanese reviews & ratings above 3.2 are a pretty good bet. Also, you can use the ‘translate’ function on Google reviews, or translate entire pages of Japanese review sites.
Does This Apply to All Types of Businesses?
The pattern is most pronounced in restaurants but applies to most service-based businesses.
What's a Good Strategy for Finding Restaurants in Tourist Areas?
Look for places with mixed ratings around 3.5-3.8 with mostly Japanese reviews.
How Recent is This Rating Inflation?
It's accelerated significantly since 2019, particularly in major tourist destinations.
Should I Trust High Ratings in Tourist Areas?
Verify with Japanese reviews or local recommendations whenever possible.