TSURUTOKAME

Tsuru to Kame, a Japanese Kappo-Style Restaurant Run by an All-Female Staff

"Set along Ginza Namiki-dori, this kappo-style restaurant is run entirely by an all-female team led by second-generation head chef Atsumi Saito, who has been here since opening and became head chef in 2022, fulfilling the owner’s long-held dream of a female-staffed restaurant in a male-dominated field. Traditional interiors—an ajiro (woven-wood) ceiling and kyokabe earthen walls typical of top Japanese restaurants—frame two seasonal omakase courses; the hassun appetizers often arrive with a piece of washi bearing haiku or tanka penned with a calligraphy brush by Saito and the staff, personalized for each guest to spark conversation and heighten awareness of the seasons. Seasonal terms like Japanese icefish and firefly squid appear in the poems, reinforcing how closely the cooking is tied to nature and inviting diners to feel that connection. Drawing on a childhood steeped in cuisine—her father cooked at Asuka, a restaurant in the same group—Saito fosters a collaborative, friendship-like culture that makes nurturing young cooks easier; after morning prep she organizes lessons in tea ceremony, calligraphy, haiku, tanka, reading Kojiki, chorus, and English to ground the team in the cultural and liberal-arts roots of Japanese cuisine and convey the 24 micro-seasons. With a staff all in their twenties and dreaming of opening their own restaurants, the place positions itself as a bridge to the future; even its name—crane and turtle—symbolizes longevity and the intent to hand down Japanese culinary tradition for a thousand, even ten thousand, years." - Kyoko Nakayama