Kojitsu | 好日 – Ozone, Nagoya, Japan

Kojitsu is a kappo style restaurant located in Ozone, a residential neighborhood near the Nagoya Dome. Tsuyoshi Hori opened Kojitsu in July 2023 after training at Ajikan Kotohogi in nearby Izumi. He has a loyal following among the local Nagoya community, and reservations reached a 12+ month wait for dinner soon after opening. Kojitsu's Tabelog score hovered just shy of 4.0 until 2025 when it earned Tabelog Bronze for the first time in 2026.

https://tabelog.com/aichi/A2301/A230110/23085579/

Kojitsu offers course menus at both lunch (8,800 JPY (cash only)) and dinner (18,150 JPY (tax/service inclusive). Dinner is one seating per day starting at 18:30 and lasts 2.5-3 hours. You will not find lavish ingredients sourced throughout Japan, but rather straightforward, home-style cooking of accessible ingredients, executed with precision. The meal at Kojitsu is not as reduced as say Ogata nor as contemporary as say Yamazaki. It's somewhere in the middle.

The space is warm and inviting. Hori-san is soft-spoken and kind as he shuffles behind the counter between stations. Okami-san is affable and helps to create a calm, relaxing environment without even a hint of stuffiness. The main counter seats 8, and there is a private room that seats 4. There will be a decent amount of conversation with other parties, especially if you speak Japanese. Something about the environment makes everyone quite chatty.

I visited in early September and was expecting summer highlights of Ayu and Hamo. However, the course had already shifted towards fall. Here's a brief summary.

1. Grilled Eggplant, Nagaimo Soumen, Uni (Hokkaido Murasaki), Yuzu Zest
2. Owan of Grilled Kamasu, Myouga, Sudachi
3. Warayaki Sawara (Toushijima, Mie Prefrecture) with Oroshi Daikon and Ponzu
4. Small Suppon Nabe with Suppon Engawa, Kuroawabi, Kabu, and Shironegi
5. Satsuma Age with Shin Gingko and Renkon
6. Hand-made Soba with Peanut (Chiba) Dashi
7. Grilled Sanma, Mushrooms, and Oroshi Daikon with Ikura
8. Octopus (Mikawa), Koimo (Toyama), Pumpkin, Dried Shiitake, and Okra
9. Grilled Unagi (Mikawa) with Rice (Yudai21)
10. Salted Salmon with Rice (Toyama Koshihikari)
11. Mizuyoukan and Shine Muscat

Most customers are local to Nagoya, but knowledge of the restaurant is still not widespread even there. Every guest reserved a future dinner visit, and the earliest available was mid-December 2027. Because they only offer one seating per evening, reservations fill quickly. Reservations are taken through TableCheck, and if cancellations occur they are sometimes offered on their page. The 18:30 start time makes this a possible day trip from Tokyo.

Nihonshu and Natural Japanese wine are the highlights of the drink menu. Okami-san has close relationships with some of the big producers in Japan. For Nihonshu, there are two pairing options (5 and 8 glasses) in either 45ml or 90ml servings. Pours are very liberal so be careful.

My bill all-in was 30,000 JPY including the "jumbo" Nihonshu pairing. At that price point and level of satisfaction, I can't think of a better meal I've had recently. The experience has only reinforced my desire to seek places like this out in tier2/3/beyond cities in Japan. Through an acquaintance met during this meal, I will visit Hijikata (kaiseki not sushi) in Nagoya in October. Nagoya has some serious chops and deserves more attention.