When You Stay in Nagoya Before Shirakawa-go, Choose Itadaki
gotowpYou've mapped it all out. Tomorrow morning: the highway bus to Shirakawa-go, the thatched-roof farmhouses, the mountain air. Tonight: check into your hotel near Nagoya Station, rest, and get ready. And today — today is your one full day in Nagoya. You want to use it well. But somewhere between reviewing your itinerary and opening Google Maps, a small, nagging question appears: Where should I actually eat?
Not just anywhere. You've come a long way. You want a lunch that means something — one that belongs to this city, this region, this trip. That's the question that leads a lot of travelers to Itadaki, tucked quietly on the second floor of a building in Osu, a four-minute walk from Yabacho Station.
Let me tell you what that lunch looks like — before and after.
This article is for you if:
- ✅ You're spending one or two days in Nagoya before (or after) Shirakawa-go or Takayama
- ✅ You want a lunch that feels genuinely local — not a tourist trap, not a chain restaurant
- ✅ You've tried Kobe beef or Matsusaka beef and are curious what else Japan has to offer
- ✅ You're a little unsure about rare-style wagyu and want honest information before deciding
- ✅ You want a meal worth remembering — and worth telling people about when you get home
Before Itadaki: A Good Day That Could Be a Great One
Picture the morning. You've already done one thing right: you chose Nagoya as a stopover instead of rushing straight to Shirakawa-go from Tokyo. Smart. Nagoya rewards that decision — Osu Kannon Temple in the morning, the long covered shopping street with its mix of old incense shops and anime stores, maybe a stop at Hisaya-odori Garden Flarie (just three minutes from Yabacho Station, free entry, and genuinely beautiful). You're in good spirits.
Then lunch. And here's where a lot of travelers — even well-prepared ones — end up somewhere forgettable. Not bad. Just… not memorable. A ramen spot that was fine, a convenience store onigiri eaten on a bench, a chain restaurant that exists in three other cities they've visited. Nothing wrong with any of it. But nothing added to the story, either.
That's the before.
The Moment You Sit Down at Itadaki
Itadaki opened in Osu in April 2022, founded by Masayuki Goto — a Nagoya restaurateur with 18 years in the industry who asked a question no one had thought to ask seriously before: Why does every Japanese donburi have a premium version except gyudon?
Katsudon has its upscale iterations. Kaisendon has its tuna-over-uni showstoppers. But gyudon — Japan's beloved beef bowl — had always lived in the world of ¥500 fast food. Goto looked at that gap and saw something else entirely: an opportunity to build something new, using ingredients he had sourced directly from Aichi Prefecture farms for years.
The result is what he calls The Original Rare Wagyu Gyudon. And when the bowl arrives at your table, you understand immediately that this is not a beef bowl in the sense you were expecting.
The beef is Horai Wagyu — produced by just three farms in Japan, with only 300 heads raised annually. For reference: there are roughly 500,000 wagyu cattle in Japan. You're looking at 300 of them. This particular wagyu is raised in Okumikawa, in the mountains of Aichi Prefecture, and fed on sake lees from Horaisen Sora, one of the region's most celebrated breweries. The result is a beef with a flavor profile that is lighter, more nuanced, and more complex than the heavily marbled wagyu most travelers encounter in Kobe or Matsusaka.
The preparation — Goto's proprietary two-stage cooking technique — heats the beef to above 70°C at its core, fully meeting Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare food safety standards, while preserving the silky, yielding texture that makes rare wagyu so extraordinary. It is, in the truest sense, rare-style wagyu that is safe to eat. Not a marketing phrase. A technical achievement.
Alongside the beef: Aichi no Kaori rice, a Nagoya Cochin egg from Yamada Poultry Farm, miso soup made with Hatcho miso from Okazaki City, traditional Atsumi Ichō-zuke pickles from the Atsumi Peninsula, and shiso leaves from Toyohashi. Every ingredient from Aichi Prefecture. Not as a marketing hook — as a philosophy.
"Perfect lunch during our Nagoya stay before our Shirakawa-go trip the following day."
— Guest review
✓ Key points so far
- Itadaki is the originator of Rare Wagyu Gyudon — a culinary concept invented here in Osu, Nagoya, and found nowhere else
- Horai Wagyu is one of Japan's rarest wagyu breeds: 300 heads per year across just 3 farms, with a distinctive flavor shaped by sake lees feeding
- The two-stage cooking technique delivers a rare texture that fully meets Japanese food safety standards — no compromise on either end
The Five Steps That Change How You Think About a Beef Bowl
One of the first things you'll notice at Itadaki is the multilingual printed menu — available in English, Simplified Chinese, and Korean. It includes a five-step visual guide titled "How to Enjoy Rare Gyudon." This is not a gimmick. It's a genuine invitation to slow down and experience the dish the way it was designed to be eaten.
Step one: separate the raw Nagoya Cochin egg. The white goes into the miso soup. The yolk rests on top of the beef. Step two: taste the wagyu on its own, without anything added — just the beef and the rice, so the Horai Wagyu speaks for itself. Step three: mix the golden yolk through. Step four: explore the complimentary condiments on the table — pickled ginger from Kimura Farm in Inazawa, dried seaweed from Himakajima in Mikawa Bay, chirimen jako from Minamichita, and Itadaki's own eight-spice blend. Step five: a final bite with wasabi, clean and refreshing.
Five steps. One bowl. A meal that took maybe 25 minutes, but feels like it lasted longer — in the best possible way.
"The five-step eating guide made the dish even more enjoyable and memorable."
— Guest review
After Itadaki: The Rest of Your Nagoya Day, and the Trip That Follows
Here's what changes after lunch at Itadaki — and it's not just the full stomach.
You leave with a story. Not a vague impression of "pretty good wagyu," but a specific, vivid memory: the name Horai Wagyu, the three farms, the sake lees, the technique, the egg. You know where each ingredient came from. You've eaten something genuinely rare — not because a restaurant told you it was special, but because you understand now why it is.
That story travels well. It fits perfectly into the larger narrative of your trip: Nagoya for the day, Shirakawa-go tomorrow. Two very different Japans — one urban and layered, one ancient and preserved — and a thread connecting them: the depth of Central Japan's food culture, its craftsmanship, its patience.
Travelers who come to Nagoya before Shirakawa-go often tell us that lunch at Itadaki set the tone for everything that followed. Not in a dramatic way. Just in the quiet, specific way that a genuinely good meal can reorient your attention toward what's real and local and made with care.
The afternoon is yours. Osu Kannon Temple is a short walk. The shopping street stretches in both directions. Hisaya-odori Garden Flarie, with its six themed gardens and its unexpected calm in the middle of the city, is three minutes from the station you came in on. And tomorrow morning, the bus to Shirakawa-go.
Practical Notes for Planning Your Visit
Itadaki is open for lunch only — 11:00 to 15:00, with last order at 14:30. Business days are Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday (Wednesday through Friday are closed). On public holidays, the restaurant opens at 9:00. Hours can shift, so it's always worth checking the monthly calendar on Instagram before your trip.
The Horai Wagyu Rare Gyudon — the Shinkoccho size, with 100g of beef and 200g of rice, at ¥2,700 — is limited to 10 bowls per day. During busy weekends, it can sell out before noon. If Horai Wagyu is your priority, a reservation via Tabelog Online is strongly recommended. When booking, paste the following into the notes field to request it: 鳳来牛希望. Reservations can be made in English on the Tabelog website.
If you're arriving without a reservation, Mikawa Beef Rare Gyudon (from ¥1,800) is always available — prepared with the same two-stage cooking technique and every bit as carefully sourced from Aichi Prefecture farms. Arriving right at 11:00 opening also gives you the best chance of enjoying Horai Wagyu as a walk-in guest.
To get there: take the Meijo Subway Line to Yabacho Station and use Exit 4. Itadaki is a four-minute walk. From Nagoya Station, the trip takes about 10 minutes total — Higashiyama Line to Sakae, transfer to the Meijo Line, off at Yabacho. Look for the sign that reads 元祖レア牛丼 頂 at street level, and take the stairs to the second floor.
The Lunch That Belongs to Your Nagoya Day
A stopover in Nagoya before Shirakawa-go doesn't have to be filler. It can be one of the most memorable parts of the trip — if you spend your one lunch at a place that gives you something real to bring home.
Itadaki is not a famous restaurant in the international sense. It's been featured on eight major Japanese TV programs, including NHK. It's been recognized as the originator of Rare Wagyu Gyudon by Japan's leading broadcasters. But it's still a small, 18-seat lunch spot in Osu — the kind of place where a Japanese food enthusiast would say, quietly, "This is where I really eat."
That's exactly what it is. And that's exactly why it's worth building your Nagoya day around it.
We'd love to welcome you. For our complete menu, access details, and store information, visit our official page at itadaki8.com/english/.
To secure your bowl — especially if Horai Wagyu is on your list — Reserve Your Rare Wagyu Experience on Tabelog. And to check our latest business calendar before your trip, Check Our Monthly Schedule on Instagram. We post every month, and we'll be there when you arrive.
