high end sushi - is it worth it?

Hi there!
I'm travelling to Japan in two weeks, and will be spending almost a week in Tokyo.
i LOVE food, i love experiencing new cuisines, and I LOVE sushi. but i never had sushi in Japan before. I know that it will be amazing!
I'm considering going into one of the really high end places such as Saito/Jiro etc.. but are those places really worth the super high price tag? I'm sure that for a first timer, amazing sushi could be easily found in other, still great sushi places, right?

You're absolutely right that amazing sushi can be found in many places and without the Michelin pricetags of places like Jiro, Saito etc.

If you're arriving in a couple of weeks though, you're probably out of luck getting a reservation at most of the really high end places. Jiro would have opened for Oct bookings on Sept 1st and unless you're staying at a really top hotel with a great concierge, getting in now is likely to be impossible.

Don't worry about that though - you're sure to have amazing sushi wherever you go.

Try to call Sushi Iwa and make a reservation. Ask for Tsunoda-san. Iwa is a high end sushi-ya in Ginza. Michelin star. Tsunoda-san speaks English.

Iwa is a superb place to get your feet wet with sushi in Tokyo. Go for lunch, which is less expensive. They have a \5000 and \8000 Omakase set for lunch. I suggest the \8000 set. About 13 pieces of Nigiri. I go there annually.

https://tabelog.com/en/tokyo/A1301/A130103/13191943/

But, before you go there, take a lunch at Sushi Nova. Several of them in Tokyo. A completely different experience. It is not high end, but the quality of the sushi is pretty good. You order from tablets (ipads) at your table, and the food is delivered by conveyor belts directly to your table very quickly. You can specify English on the menus. And like I said, the quality is not bad (not Iwa, but still worth the money). This is the other end of sushi in Tokyo.

There is a Nova in Asakusa and one in Shibuya. May be others. If you google it, you can find youtubes about it.

Another chain is Genki Sushi with similar hi-tech ordering procedures.

Dale

My yen symbol didn't go through... \ means yen

Dale

thanks for all the great replies!

I would recommend going to one of those places with aquarium tanks where you pick out some live fish & it is chopped up right before your eyes.

They are pricey but it doesn't get any fresher than that !

Fugu sashimi (blowfish) is also extraordinary as is cooked blowfish stew (Techiri). There are restaurants that specialize in it & they are delicious !

Considering fish are farmed in Japan. I guess if you easy to spend, you should select carefully.
Bear in mind there are also a lot more china imported food than five years ago. Personally, I think to find authentic Japanese food which keep to the same ingredients is hard nowadays.