It's not quite as simple as that now, is it?

Coming from Paris or London, where it really is jolly hard to just saunter into a random locale and have a good meal, Tokyo must have been mind bending for the Michelin people.

Anyway, they tackled Tokyo, they decreed it good, one would like to hope they realise that there are a host of restaurants across the length and breast of Japan they could get their teeth into, news of which would delight their cusotmers.

Personally, I'd love to see a Kinki Michelin - and I'd be curious to see how Osaka fares in a straight fisticuffs with Kyoto with foreign guided arbitration.

But I believe it's going to take a few decades of regular publications of Michelin Tokyo before their list and star system becomes in any way authoritative or truly meaningful. It seems to be a great start, with some wonderful choices which should prove an almost ideal introduction for many visitors, but there's so much more. And then there's Kinki and the rest of Japan.