Restaurants Open Christmas Day in Tokyo 2026
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The Christmas-Day pick in Tokyo for 2026 is Sezanne, the three-Michelin-star room at the Four Seasons Marunouchi running a confirmed Christmas menu. Editorial runners-up: Joel Robuchon, Esterre, Aman Tokyo, La Tour d'Argent and Les Saisons.
Tokyo is the opposite of Paris on the 25th. Christmas is a romantic occasion here, not a family-and-closure one, so the city's best rooms stay open and run special Christmas courses — the only catch is the year-end shutdown that follows a few days later. The safe bets are the hotel dining rooms with published festive menus. Six, ranked by prestige and certainty.
Six Tables for a Tokyo Christmas
The best table in Tokyo on Christmas Day, by the metrics that matter. Sezanne holds three Michelin stars as of 2025 and placed seventh on the World's 50 Best list that year; chef Daniel Calvert, who cooked at Per Se and Epicure, runs a Franco-Japanese tasting above 60,000 yen. The Four Seasons publishes its festive program annually and Sezanne's Christmas menu, down to the hazelnut Buche de Noel, is confirmed. Book through the restaurant or the Four Seasons concierge well ahead — this seat goes first.
Christmas in a chateau. Joel Robuchon occupies an 18th-century-style mansion in Ebisu Garden Place and retains three Michelin stars in the 2026 guide — nineteen consecutive years — under executive chef Kenichiro Sekiya, a Meilleur Ouvrier de France. A classical French degustation runs above 40,000 yen. The room is heavily booked across the 23rd to 25th every year, so this is the grand romantic Christmas play, but it demands an early reservation through the Robuchon line; the festive dates fill faster than any other room here.
The confirmed-Christmas pick with a Ducasse pedigree. Esterre is Alain Ducasse's Palace Hotel room, holding one Michelin star in the 2026 guide under chef Kei Kojima, who has cooked under Ducasse for over a decade. Dinner starts near 23,000 yen, and the Palace Hotel lists Esterre directly in its December 20-to-25 festive program — a Fleur de Noel, caviar bisque and truffle wagyu among the courses. Of the rooms here, its Christmas-Day service is among the most explicitly documented. Book through the hotel or TableCheck.
The Christmas table with a view, thirty-three floors up. Arva is the Italian room at Aman Tokyo, opened December 2014 atop the Otemachi Tower; chef Masakazu Hiraki trained in Venice and runs a seven-course Stagione tasting around 17,000 yen, the sea-urchin pasta its standout. Aman publishes an Arva festive menu running the 23rd to 25th, so Christmas Day is confirmed. It is the most relaxed of the high-end options — regional Italian rather than haute French — with the best skyline. Book on TableCheck ahead of the holiday.
The Tokyo outpost of the Paris institution, in the Hotel New Otani since 1984 and holding one Michelin star. Order the caneton a la presse — the pressed duck served with its numbered postcard, the same ceremony as the 1582 Paris house — across a dinner near 30,000 yen. The New Otani runs a December 20-to-25 Christmas program, so the room is open on the 25th. It is the most ceremonial classical-French Christmas in the city; reserve through the hotel and ask specifically for the duck.
The grand-hotel classic. Les Saisons sits on the mezzanine of the Imperial Hotel, an institution since 1890, and holds one Michelin star under chef Thierry Voisin, formerly of Les Crayeres in Reims. A multi-course classical French dinner runs near 30,000 yen, and the hotel mounts lavish festive lunches and dinners every Christmas. It is the safest old-guard choice — a reliably open hotel dining room with a serious kitchen — for diners who want tradition over novelty on the 25th. Book through the Imperial or TableCheck.
How to Book on Christmas Day
The hotel rooms are the certainty here, because they publish festive menus and serve their guests through the holidays — Sezanne, Esterre, Arva, La Tour d'Argent and Les Saisons all sit inside hotels with confirmed December programs. Book through the hotel concierge or TableCheck, and reserve two to four weeks ahead; Christmas Eve and Day are among the busiest dining nights of the Tokyo year, more so than New Year's, which the city spends at home. Joel Robuchon fills earliest of all.
Two cautions. First, confirm the 25th specifically rather than the festive 'season,' since some rooms weight the program toward Christmas Eve. Second, the year-end shutdown — many top kitchens close from roughly the 28th through the New Year, so the 25th is fine but the days just after are not. The tell at Sezanne is the Buche de Noel; at La Tour d'Argent, whether your pressed duck arrives with its numbered card. Reserve the date, not the week.
Frequently Asked Questions
Most of Tokyo's best rooms stay open on Christmas Day, since Christmas is a romantic dining occasion in Japan rather than a family-closure holiday. The safest bets are hotel dining rooms with published festive menus: three-star Sezanne at the Four Seasons Marunouchi, Esterre at the Palace Hotel, Arva at Aman Tokyo, La Tour d'Argent at the Hotel New Otani and Les Saisons at the Imperial Hotel all run confirmed Christmas programs.
Sezanne is the strongest Christmas-Day pick in Tokyo for 2026, the three-Michelin-star Franco-Japanese room at the Four Seasons Marunouchi where chef Daniel Calvert runs a confirmed Christmas menu above 60,000 yen. For a grander setting, the three-star Joel Robuchon in its Ebisu chateau is heavily booked across the holiday, and Esterre by Alain Ducasse has one of the most explicitly documented Christmas-Day programs.
Absolutely. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day are among the busiest restaurant nights of the year in Tokyo, and the top rooms book out two to four weeks ahead. Joel Robuchon fills earliest, and Sezanne's limited seats go fast. Reserve through the hotel concierge or TableCheck, and confirm the 25th specifically rather than just the festive season, since some kitchens weight their program toward Christmas Eve.
The hotel fine-dining rooms run high. Sezanne's tasting is above 60,000 yen and Joel Robuchon above 40,000; Esterre starts near 23,000, Arva at Aman runs about 17,000 for its seven-course Stagione, and La Tour d'Argent and Les Saisons sit near 30,000 yen. Festive Christmas courses often replace the regular menu on the 25th, so expect a set price rather than a la carte at most of these rooms.
Christmas Day is reliably open, but the days just after are not. Many of Tokyo's top kitchens close for the year-end and New Year period, roughly December 28 through early January, when the city turns inward for its most important holiday. So the 25th is one of the best dining nights of the year, but if you are visiting over the turn of the year, check each restaurant's nenmatsu-nenshi closure dates before assuming it is open.