In Japan the Michelin guide is useful for both locals and for visitors as a directory of restaurants one might want to try. The ratings, however, in my opinion shouldn't always be taken seriously. Any number of Michelin stars is a strong indication that a restaurant is very accomplished in terms of food quality and service, but one cannot infer more than that from the ratings. A restaurant with two Michelin stars is not necessarily better than one with one star, or indeed others that might not even be in the Michelin guide.

I have heard from very reliable sources that the Michelin "inspectors" sometimes rate restaurants to which they have not been more than twice. Personally having been to some of these places countless times, there are quite a few examples of both underrated and overrated restaurants.

To me, much like the Michelin guide's ratings for Tokyo hotels, their restaurant ratings function as little more than a directory of Tokyo's high-end restaurants. I pay much more attention to Michelin ratings in Europe than I do in Asia or North America.