There is no particular update.

Strange. Especially for a country with as high vaccination as Japan. Most countries at least have an opening up timeline already.

Asian countries, especially those in Far East, seem quite conservative in border reopening to foreigners (unless you are going there for business or study). Japan might also have a negative experience in reopening during the summer Olympics.

'Chiaigishi' is the part that is close to the skin, and its taste and aroma are very good.

As there are many parts that cannot be used because they contain blood and the yielding percentage isn't good, so originally there were probably few sushi restaurants that purchased it.

Among the sushi restaurants I often go to, I often see it at ones that focus on purchasing tuna, for example, Sushi Arai.

Btw, I haven't heard many stories lately about good parts of neta being served only to regular customers and not to other customers.

Thank you Saito San for the explanation. Indeed, the taste is quite unique and delicious. I have not seen it in other shops I have been (some are more focused on tuna).

Arai was the only place I actually heard about special parts being offered to regulars, but I guess their first counter these days is pretty much all regulars ..

>but I guess their first counter these days is pretty much all regulars ..
That may be true...><

Arai-san is old school and conservative in his approach to service, so it is not surprising that he treated non-regular customers in that way.

Understood. And IMHO it is part of charm dining in Japan, especially with chef owned shops.

The main counter on the B1F has been moved to the second floor, where Arai-san is now making sushi.
Watanabe-san, who used to be in charge of the private room on the B1F, retired and is now in charge of the private room at Sushi Ryujiro.
The private room on B1f is still in operation, where Mei-san, a female sushi chef, makes sushi.

Special ｍaguro futomaki can also be ordered at the B1F private room.

Thank you very much Saito San!

Saito San, how would you rate Mei san’s course? Are the appetizers exactly same or different to Arai San counter? Would you say her sushi is on par with other top rated sushi restaurants in Tokyo? Thank you

The composition of the omakase course now seems to be slightly different from the second floor.
I only tried Mei-san's sushi once a while ago, but my impression is that it is still far from the level of top notch sushi restaurants.

The basic choices are "Karyu" and "Jo".

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1302/A130204/13028856/
https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1307/A130701/13209614/

If you want to thoroughly enjoy the quality of Wagyu beef, try "Nikuya Tanaka".

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130101/13237628/

If you want to enjoy raw meat, try "Okadamae".

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1307/A130702/13255880/

Thanks, Leo saito. May I ask what make Nikuya Tanaka seem to be better than other choices?

The grade of wagyu used is high. The price is also higher than others.

@leo saito If I may ask, so in term of cooking skill and ideas of cooking, which place you consider as the best one in your opinion?

I think Jo is the best choice for now.

The current best eleven in my opinion.

Sugita
Amamoto
Sawada
Shimizu
Inomara
Harutaka
Keita
Kiyota(Hanare)
Arai
saito
Ryujiro

Saito-san, quite surprised to see kiyota hanare on the list. Is it worth the high price(88,000jpy)?

@leo saito is this also by ranking?

@leo saito anway, may I know about Inomara? I never heard the name

My bad.
Inomara→Inomata

It's hard to rank them among these 10 stores.
There are many stores that I haven't gotten a chance to visit recently.

@leo saito Thank you for your clarification. At first, I thought you were trying to mention Imamura

Saito-san, what happened to hashiguchi? I remembered you ranking it highly previously.

Oh, I forgot to put it on the list.
Hashiguchi is still one of my favorites.