January 13, 2026
Restaurant Kam
Culinary hot spot in outlying city
Japan’s ongoing economic slump has led consumers to move away from fine dining, with revenue at most of The Japan Times’ Destination Restaurants now buoyed by overseas diners. Japanese visitors who do travel to regional restaurants tend to come from major cities. One exception is Restaurant Kam, which opened in April 2021 in Kawaguchi, Saitama Prefecture, a commuter town in the Tokyo area. While more than half its early customers were from Tokyo, nearly 80% now hail from Saitama.
Restaurant Kam sits in a new residential development about a 10-minute walk from Higashi-Kawaguchi Station. The area has no tourist attractions, notes owner-chef Masashi Motooka. He previously worked at Restaurant Bio-S in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture, a farm-to-table restaurant where he cooked and tended the kitchen garden. The experience taught him how to draw out the best in vegetables at every stage — not just seasonal peak produce but also early or overripe harvests. “I never had any intention of opening a restaurant in a big city,” he said.
Born in Hyogo Prefecture, Motooka chose as his location a 70-year-old traditional house left by his wife’s late grandfather, who ran a landscaping business. The home’s carved fittings and ranma panels highlight skilled Japanese craftsmanship and allow Motooka space to grow vegetables.
Produce from the garden shapes the entire tasting menu, appearing from appetizers to desserts. A risotto may feature the last of the summer corn, while a vegetable mousse with kombu-cured shrimp might be topped with nira flowers. Motooka often recalls his mentor’s words: that the life cycle of vegetables should be expressed on the table.
At ¥16,500, the course menu feels reasonable, and more locals now choose Kam. Opening in a densely populated commuter town may prove a model for future chefs.
Restaurant Kam
1-13, Tozuka 3-chome, Kawaguchi, Saitama
https://www.instagram.com/restaurant_kam_1130/?hl=ja
Motohiro ono
Governor of Saitama
Saitama Prefecture lies at the heart of the Kanto region, Japan’s central economic zone with over 40 million people. Largely flat terrain allows exceptionally easy access from eastern Japan, including Tokyo. Blessed with fertile land and proximity to major consumer markets, Saitama supplies diverse fresh vegetables. Restaurant Kam occupies a 70-year-old traditional farmhouse, serving colorful dishes centered on homegrown produce. Just a short distance from the capital, enjoy outstanding Kanto vegetables and the charm of a historic countryside home setting.
Nobuo Okunoki
Mayor of Kawaguchi
On behalf of the citizens of Kawaguchi, I would like to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Restaurant Kam.
The restaurant’s highly regarded cuisine, which actively incorporates local ingredients and homegrown vegetables while remaining deeply rooted in the community and skillfully blending the appeal of its ingredients with creativity and sensibility, is a great source of pride for our city. We hope that this recognition will serve as an opportunity for the appeal of Kawaguchi’s food culture and the city itself to be shared even more widely.
