Japanese culinary scene has become very complicated due to the fact that the borders were closed for over two years almost 3, and so Japanese restaurant relied mostly on local business. Hence, many of the exclusive restaurants are tied to local customers who repeat and reserve their seats after each and every visit. Restaurants like Matsukawa: https://mesubim.com/?s=matsukawa have become so exclusive only on rare occasions you can find seats.

Even 10 years certain chefs, or difficult to reserve such as Mitani: https://mesubim.com/2013/12/06/chef-mitani-tokyo/ and overall looking for new horizons becomes the challenge and the quest, two things I enjoy.