Conveyor-belt sushi (kaiten-zushi) is one of the easiest ways for visitors to Japan to enjoy real sushi at a friendly price. But the experience has changed a lot: in many shops the plates no longer revolve—you order instead—and the old flat '100 yen a plate' pricing has largely collapsed. This guide covers the system, prices, ordering steps, manners and allergy handling as of 2026, fact-checked against official and news sources.

How kaiten-zushi works: lanes and the shift to ordering

Conveyor-belt sushi is said to have started in 1958 when Genroku Sushi in Higashiosaka, near Osaka, took its cue from the belt conveyors at a beer factory. Ever since, a lane carrying plates of sushi has circled the restaurant while customers freely pick what they want. This low-price, high-turnover model turned what was once an upscale meal into an everyday outing.

Today most shops combine the classic revolving lane with an 'express' or 'direct' lane that delivers only your ordered items. When you order from the touch panel, freshly made plates arrive at your seat on a separate high-speed lane. Because the kitchen feeds it directly, the setup aims to balance freshness with speed.

More recently, 'non-revolving' shops that take everything by order (a full-order system) have spread. According to reporting, about 80% of shops were operating without a revolving belt as of 2023, driven by both food-waste reduction and hygiene. Visitors should assume the default is 'you order it yourself.'

  • Traditional lanes let you pick plates freely as they pass.
  • Express/direct lanes deliver ordered plates straight to your seat.
  • Many shops now run order-only, with no revolving belt.
  • Touch panels usually switch to English and other languages.

Ordering and eating, step by step: from entry to checkout

Most shops have a check-in machine at the entrance where you choose your party size and seat preference (counter or booth) and take a ticket. When your number is called, you are shown to your seat. During busy times many chains let you book or take a queue ticket via app or website, cutting your wait.

Once seated, you order from the touch panel. Use the language button to switch to English, choose from categories—sushi, sides, drinks, dessert—set the quantity and confirm. Where a revolving lane exists you may take passing plates directly, but note that in order-only shops nothing comes around to grab.

Tables typically hold soy sauce, gari (pickled ginger), powdered green tea and teacups. Put the tea powder in your cup and add hot water from the built-in tap to make 'agari' (green tea). Whether wasabi is already inside the sushi, served on the side, or specified at ordering varies from shop to shop.

You may eat with your hands or with chopsticks. Dabbing soy sauce lightly on the topping side keeps things tidy. When finished, settle up with the 'checkout' button or by calling staff. Some shops count plates by color and number, some auto-count via a plate slot, and some tally from your order data—the method depends on the shop.

  • Make 'agari' (green tea) with the tea powder and hot-water tap.
  • Gari cleanses the palate; dab soy sauce on the topping side.
  • Whether wasabi is included varies by shop (see sabi-nuki below).
  • Checkout is tallied by plate color/count or from your order data.

The real cost: the end of '100 yen a plate' and 2026 prices

The old symbol—every plate a flat 100 yen (before tax)—has crumbled amid higher ingredient costs, a weak yen and soaring rice prices. Sushiro moved 'beyond 100 yen' in October 2022, raising its cheapest yellow plate from 110 to 120 yen at suburban stores, from 121 to 130 yen at semi-urban stores, and from 132 to 150 yen at urban stores, all tax included.

Kura Sushi also overhauled its base prices to 115 and 165 yen (tax incl.) in October 2022, with suburban stores starting at 115 yen and city-center stores at 150 yen depending on the store tier. It then raised about 95 items by an average of 20.8 yen at the end of October 2025, pushing the effective floor higher. Sushiro likewise nudged staples up in stages—tuna 120 to 140 yen, salmon 110 to 130 yen—so prices as of 2026 skew higher overall.

Hama Sushi and Kappa Sushi were long nicknamed 'the last strongholds' of the 110-yen (tax-incl.) plate, but by 2026 their paths have diverged. Hama Sushi also raised some prices heading into late 2025 and, on May 26, 2026—while leaving over 90% of items unchanged—lifted mainstay nigiri that had long been 110 yen—tuna and marinated tuna among them—to 132 yen (about ten items were repriced in all, with over 90% left unchanged; urban and city-center stores run 20–40 yen higher still), breaking the 'tuna at 110 yen' symbol. Kappa Sushi, by contrast, still lists more than 100 items at 110 yen (tax incl.) or less as of 2026 according to its official site, keeping the cheapest price band among the big chains. Plate color signals the price band, with each color set at a fixed unit price; higher plates run from around 180 or 260 yen, and some shops offer market-price plates.

As a rough guide, a light, order-focused meal often runs about 1,000–1,500 yen per person, while eating heartily or ordering premium toppings can reach roughly 2,000–3,000 yen. These figures are as of 2026 and vary by store tier and topping, so always confirm the actual price on the touch panel and by plate color.

  • Sushiro and Kura Sushi have ended flat 100-yen pricing.
  • Hama Sushi raised mainstay nigiri such as tuna to 132 yen (May 2026, 90%+ unchanged); Kappa Sushi keeps 100+ items at 110 yen or less.
  • Plate color typically signals the price band.
  • Budget roughly 1,000–3,000 yen per person, depending on how you eat.

The main chains at a glance: Sushiro, Kura, Hama, Kappa and premium shops

The big nationwide chains are mainly Sushiro, Kura Sushi, Hama Sushi and Kappa Sushi. All offer touch-panel ordering, multilingual support and a wide range of sides, so they are easy for visitors to use. None is inherently 'better'—choose by price band, menu and how convenient the location is.

Kura Sushi is known for gimmicks like 'Bikkura-Pon!', a mini-lottery triggered when you drop plates into a slot, and for its 'Sendo-kun' antibacterial covers. Hama Sushi offers many kinds of soy sauce and has been rolling out straight lanes. As noted, as of 2026 the chain holding the cheapest price band is Kappa Sushi; Hama Sushi still keeps many items around 110 yen but has been raising mainstay toppings such as tuna.

Separate from these chains, big cities also have upscale, gourmet-style conveyor shops serving higher-grade toppings by the plate. Some handle market-price plates from several hundred yen up, so even within 'conveyor-belt sushi' the price bands differ widely. It pays to pick the type of shop that fits your budget and purpose.

  • Cheapest: Kappa Sushi (keeps many plates at 110 yen or less).
  • Sides, desserts and gimmicks: Kura Sushi and Sushiro.
  • Premium toppings and calmer settings: upscale shops in big cities.
  • All offer multilingual touch panels for easy ordering.

Manners and cautions: what not to do after the 'sushi terror' era

In 2023, videos of nuisance acts—licking the spout of a tabletop soy-sauce bottle, touching lane sushi with bare hands—spread on social media and became a social issue. The emblematic case was at a Sushiro store in Gifu in January 2023; the operator initially sued for about 67 million yen in damages (it later withdrew the claim, and a settlement was reached through mediation).

In response, the chains tightened their measures. In March 2023 Kura Sushi used its existing infrastructure to roll out AI cameras that detect suspicious opening of plate covers to roughly 530 stores. Sushiro switched to delivering only ordered items on the lane, with staff bringing condiments and tableware to the seat on request. Hama Sushi moved to individually wrapped gari and replaces the full set of tabletop condiments when asked.

What visitors should watch most is the hygiene of shared items and food. Mistreating plates that travel the lane (or that anyone can touch), or the shared soy sauce and teacups on the table, is a serious breach of manners that can, in some cases, carry legal liability. To keep your meal worry-free, avoid the following.

  • Don't touch a lane plate and put it back, or return a plate you took.
  • Don't lick or soil shared soy-sauce bottles, teacups or chopstick holders.
  • Don't leave large amounts of food uneaten (waste and nuisance).
  • Never stage nuisance acts for video—liability and reporting can follow.

Allergies and dietary needs

If you have allergies, always check the allergen information before ordering. Sushiro shows an 'at-a-glance allergy chart' on the tabletop touch panel and updates allergen data on its official site. At Kura Sushi you can check allergen and calorie information via the QR code on the seat menu or through the app, which also flags items as 'allergen-free.'

If you dislike wasabi, say 'sabi-nuki' (wasabi-nuki), or order using the wasabi on/off option on the touch panel; in English, 'without wasabi' is understood. Bear in mind that unintended trace contamination can occur during factory production or in-store preparation, so those with severe allergies ultimately need to use their own judgment.

Full support for vegetarians or Muslim (halal) diners is limited at most chains. Fish- and animal-derived ingredients often appear in dashi (stock) and sauces, so if you need strict compliance, checking in advance is essential. It helps to know a few easy picks such as egg, cucumber roll and inari sushi.

  • Egg (tamago), cucumber roll (kappa-maki) and inari sushi.
  • Corn gunkan, potato and other sides (check the ingredients).
  • Sabi-nuki can be requested via touch panel or by asking staff.
  • Broth and sauces may contain animal ingredients; confirm ahead for strict diets.

The bottom line: choosing by budget and purpose

By 2026, conveyor-belt sushi is basically 'non-revolving, order-based and multi-tiered in price.' If you want to eat a lot cheaply, head for Kappa Sushi, which still lists more than 100 items at 110 yen or less (Hama Sushi keeps many items around 110 yen too); if you also want sides, desserts and a bit of fun, try Kura Sushi or Sushiro; and if you are after a special plate, look to the upscale shops in big cities—pick by purpose.

Always confirm the actual price on the touch panel and by plate color, and treat shared items cleanly. Get those two things right and visitors can enjoy conveyor-belt sushi with confidence. The freedom to eat with your hands or chopsticks, and to choose wasabi or none, is exactly what makes this casual dining culture so appealing.

  • Budget roughly 1,000–3,000 yen per person (2026, depending on how you eat).
  • Confirm prices by plate color and on the touch panel.
  • Check allergens on the chart or app before ordering.
  • Keep shared soy sauce, teacups and lane plates clean.