If you visit a high-end sushi restaurant, such as one that places piles of salt by the entrance for good fortune, you’ll notice there are no price displays.
There’s not even a menu for nigiri sushi. All you find is a slab of wood hanging down the wall with names of the daily offerings such as Japanese conger (anago) or Gizzard shad (kohada).
Here, customers do not get angry and say, “I can’t order anything because I don’t know the prices.” First time customers may not know the market price and worry about payment, resolving to pay with a credit card if they don’t have enough cash in their wallet.
It’s as if modern sushi restaurant customers have come to accept the absence of price listings as a long-standing tradition. But actually, before World War II, sushi restaurants displayed wooden boards with prices written on them, such as “Tuna belly: 2,000 yen.” It was during the 1960s that they stopped displaying prices.
The 60s was the start of an era of high-growth in Japan. Prices were rising rapidly and sushi prices also went up drastically. At the same time, the business practice of entertaining clients was gaining popularity, and the customer base of high-end sushi restaurants shifted from individual diners to business clients.
In such a situation, if a sign displayed “Chutoro: 3,000 yen,” the guests being entertained would find it difficult to order their favorite items. They would end up calculating the total cost and couldn’t order as many pieces as they wanted. As you can see, this practice of not displaying prices at sushi restaurants was in consideration for the business customers who were entertaining clients, as well as those being entertained as clients.
In high-end sushi restaurants, it is sometimes considered proper etiquette not to say or ask anything that might be seen as tactless (busui). This reflects a uniquely Japanese sense of aesthetics, also found in traditional arts like tea ceremony, where the underlying philosophy is to express sincerity and consideration through form and ritual.
Along with this, the “omakase” system, where customers order by saying, “Master, please select and serve nigiri sushi,” was also born. This allows the host, who has already communicated the budget in advance, to focus on the reception without worrying about payment.
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Revision date: June 12, 2025
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