About this site

Who writes Tonkatsu Guide, who pays, and how we handle sources, corrections and AI.

Tonkatsu Guide Editorial. Based in Yokohama. We pay for every meal and write what we find.

Tonkatsu Guide is an independent project that reviews tonkatsu shops in Japan for visitors. It sets out to answer one question: of the shops you can actually get into, which is the best?

How this site works

• We pay. Every meal is paid for out of pocket. If that ever changes for a review, it will be stated at the top of that review and video.
• One visit. A score is what we found in one meal on one visit. It is not a survey and not an average.
• Getting in is recorded, not rated. Beside each score we record how the shop takes customers and what happened when we went: whether we booked, how long we queued, on what day and at what time.
• No previews. Shops do not see reviews before they are published, and cannot pay to be included or removed.
• AI voice, real footage. Videos are narrated with an AI-generated voice. All footage and photos of shops and food are our own. Diagrams and illustrations in our explainer videos may be AI-generated, and are drawn so they cannot be mistaken for photographs.
• Sources. Historical and factual claims carry their sources. Where the only evidence is a shop’s or a producer’s own account, we say “is said to” and do not state it as fact.
• Corrections. Hours, prices and menus change. If something here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it and note the date.
• Advertising. This site currently carries no advertising and no affiliate links.

Contact

A contact address will be added when the site opens.