One of the most common types of Japanese restaurant is the shokudo (eating place), which serves a range of traditional and generally inexpensive dishes. Usually found near train and subway stations and in busy shopping districts, shokudo can be identified by the displays of plastic meals in their windows. Other restaurants ( resutoran ) usually serve just one type of food, for example sushi and sashimi ( sushi-ya ), or yakitori ( yakitori-ya ), or specialize in a particular style of cooking, such as kaiseki (haute cuisine) or teppan'yaki , where food is prepared on a steel griddle, either by yourself or a chef.

All over Japan, but particularly in the city suburbs, you'll find bright and breezy family restaurants , such as Royal Host and Dennys , specifically geared to family dining. These American-style operations serve Western and Japanese food that can be on the bland side, but are invariably keenly priced. They also have menus illustrated with photographs to make ordering easy. If you can't decide what to eat, head for the restaurant floors of major department stores , where you'll find a collection of Japanese and Western operations, often outlets of reputable local restaurants. Many will have plastic food displays in their front windows and daily special menus.

Western and other ethnic food restaurants proliferate in the cities, and it's seldom a problem finding popular foreign cuisines such as Italian ( Itaria-ryori ), French ( Furansu-ryori ), Korean ( Kankoku-ryori ), Chinese ( Chpgoku - or Chpka-ryori ) or Thai ( Tai-ryori ) food. However, the recipes are often adapted to suit Japanese tastes, so be prepared for the dishes to be less spicy than you may be used to.

Coffee shops ( kissaten ) are something of an institution in Japan, often designed to act as an alternative lounge or business meeting place for patrons starved of space at home or the office. Others have weird designs or specialize in, say, jazz or comic books. For this reason, in many of the old-style kissaten a speciality coffee or tea will usually set you back a pricey ¥500 or more. In recent years a caffeine-fuelled revolution has taken place, with cheap and cheerful operations like Doutor and Mister Donuts springing up across the country, serving drinks and nibbles at reasonable prices; search these places out for a cheap breakfast or snack.

The best-value and liveliest places to drink are the izakaya pub-type restaurants, which also serve an extensive menu of small dishes. The major breweries run reliable izakaya chains, such as Sapporo's Lions Beer Hall and Kirin's Kirin City , which are generally large with a boozy atmosphere. The traditional izakaya are rather rustic looking, although in the cities you'll come across more modern, trendy operations aimed at the youth market. One type of traditional izakaya is an aka-chochin, named after the red lanterns hanging outside, with another variation being the robatayaki, which serves food grilled over charcoal. Most izakaya open around 6pm and shut down around midnight. From mid-June to late August, outdoor beer gardens flourish across Japan's main cities and towns; look out for the fairy lights on the roofs of buildings, or in street-level gardens and plazas.

Regular bars, or nomiya , often consist of little more than a short counter and a table, and are usually run by a mama-san (or sometimes a papa-san ), a unique breed who both charm and terrorize their customers. Prices at nomiya are high and, although you're less likely to be ripped off if you speak some Japanese, it's no guarantee. All such bars operate a bottle keep system for regulars to stash a bottle of drink with their name on it behind the bar. It's generally best to go to such bars with a regular, since they tend to operate like mini-clubs, with non-regulars being given the cold shoulder. Nomiya will stay open to the early hours, provided there are customers.

If there's live music in a bar you'll pay for it through higher drinks prices or a cover charge . Some regular bars also have cover charges, although there's plenty of choice among those that don't, so always check before buying your drink. Bars specializing in karaoke are not difficult to spot; if you decide to join in, there's usually a small fee to pay and at least a couple of songs with English lyrics to choose from, typically Yesterday and My Way .