Conveyor Belt sushi, sushi-go-round, sushi train or in Japanese kaiten-zushi. If you aren't familiar what kaiten-zushi is, it's a restaurant with a rotating belt and sushi plates are placed on top of the belt. You just take a seat at the counter and pluck the dishes that you want. The final bill is based on the number and type of sushi you have eaten.
However, in some restaurants this has evolved in to a mix of a normal style sushi restaurant and conveyer belt sushi sestaurant. Instead of the typical conveyor belt counter, there is a multi-lingual touch screen at each seat and you can place your order at these screens. When you first enter the shop, you are given a small clipboard with a number on it and the number is your assigned seat. First you enter your order through the touch screen then your sushi is delivered to you on a high-speed chute or a conveyer belt. The prices in these kinds of restaurants usually start from around 100 yen of course the more special items on the menu will cost a little bit more. There are of course drinks available as well, usually the drinks are taken from self-service spots and counted to your check in the end. It's perfect for everyone; the budget traveler, families and people with big or small appetites. Eat as much or as little as you want while ordering each serving on its own. In some of the restaurants as well as for the ordered sushi, there is a good old conveyer belt as well with different dishes going on it that you can take.
A Little Kaiten-Zushi History
Yoshiaki Shiaishi (1914-2001) invented conveyor belt sushi because he had a problem staffing his small restaurant and struggled to manage the place himself. He came up with the idea after watching beer bottles go by on a conveyor belt in an Asahi beer brewery. He opened his first kaiten-zushi restaurant named Mawaru Genroku in 1958 in Osaka after five years developing the technology. After many years, this idea has been built upon by different companies and restaurant owners to create a fast, easy way to enjoy Japan's most famous cuisine.
Uobei
This is one of these type of sushi restaurants, it is owned by genki sushi company. Few areas where you can find Uobei restaurants are Shinjuku, Harajuku and Ebisu below is the information for the restaurant in Shinjuku
Address: 2-29-1 Dogenzaka, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo
Access: Shibuya Station (Yamanote, Ginza, Hanzomon, Fukutoshin, Denentoshi, Tokyu Toyoko, Keio Inokashira lines); Hachiko Exit
Telephone: 03 3462 0241
Hours: Open Daily 11am-midnight
Kura Sushi
This is another chain restaurant of the same style. Here you will also play gatcha as you eat, meaning when ever you have your 10th order you can win a small ball with some kind of a toy inside of it. Here you can choose to take the sushi from the conveyer that is all the time going around or order with the tablet. There are many of these all around japan Tokyo on it self has 30 Kura sushi’s. Below is the information for the Ikebukuro restaurant.
Address: 1-29-1, Higashiikebukuro, Toshima-ku, Tokyo Saint-Tropez Ikebukuro building 6F
Access: 7 minute walk from the Ikebukuro station east exit. These metro and railway lines go to Ikebukuro station Yamanote, Saikyo, Shonan-Shinjuku lines, Seibu Ikebukuro line, Toby Tojo Line, Metro Marunouchi, Yurakucho and Fukutoshin.