Japanese restaurant Shaga to open a three-month pop-up in Shibuya, Tokyo

Starting Friday, May 15, 2026, the Japanese restaurant Shaga will open a pop-up restaurant in Shibuya, Tokyo for a limited period of three months. Shaga is an original philosophy that seeks harmony within a single space among cuisine woven from the character of ingredients, terroir, and seasonal transitions; the time spent enjoying a meal; and the people who visit. Japanese cuisine is a food culture that has developed over many years alongside Japan’s climate, land, and history, and is deeply connected to established techniques, etiquette, and spirituality. The team sees it as its mission to respect and inherit traditional techniques and wisdom while incorporating new interpretations and reweaving them for the present era. The seasonal course is created by a chef trained at leading Japanese restaurants, including the Michelin three-star Nihonryori Kanda. The cuisine is based on quietly bringing out the contours of each ingredient’s flavor, while restraining the umami of kombu and bonito dashi and the aroma of charcoal grilling. Through the context held in each ingredient and each dish, the restaurant aims to let guests rediscover the depth and appeal of Japanese cuisine, offering a dining experience that lingers in memory along with its aftertaste. Guests are invited to fully savor the ultimate expression of nourishing flavor, including the depth that changes from the moment a dish enters the mouth and continues to evolve as the meal progresses. The “seasonal wanmono” is a shiitake mushroom surinagashi. Making ingredients even more true to themselves. The chef identifies each ingredient’s inherent qualities, including aroma, sweetness, acidity, bitterness, texture, and mouthfeel, and draws out the diverse deliciousness contained within a single ingredient to the fullest. For example, the approach of using everything, including fish bones and vegetable scraps, so that guests can taste the whole ingredient, also resonates with French techniques of reconstructing ingredients. Rather than using only premium ingredients to pursue luxury, the restaurant treats all ingredients equally. The spirit of seriously considering how to savor every part and use ingredients without waste is the ideal form of a chef and the heart of Japanese cuisine. By combining wild mountain vegetables and bear, the restaurant expresses an entire mountain on a plate. By pairing seafood from the Seto Inland Sea with vegetables from Awaji Island, it expresses the connection between sea and island. Shaga means letting go of preconceptions so that the ingredients themselves can emerge. It is a new Japanese dining experience not bound by the umami of dashi or the aroma of charcoal. Chef Shun Goda was born in Kagawa Prefecture in 1990. He obtained his cooking license while still in high school. After graduation, he trained at hotels, restaurants, and traditional ryotei in Kagawa before moving to Tokyo, where he refined his skills at a Michelin three-star restaurant and experienced both the orthodox and innovative essences of Japanese cuisine. In May 2026, he will open the Shaga pop-up restaurant. Shaga pop-up restaurant overview: The pop-up begins on Friday, May 15, 2026. The address is inside ma oma, Shibuya Sakura Stage SHIBUYA Tower 38F, 1-1 Sakuragaokacho, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo. Service starts simultaneously at 18:00. Closed on Sundays and Mondays. Seating is limited to eight counter seats. The course starts from 30,000 yen, excluding tax and a 10% service charge, and may vary by season. Reservation, website, and Instagram information are as stated in the original release. The Japan Food Laboratory (NSK) is a platform centered on Eat Creator, which continues to develop diverse services in the food field and aims to create new food culture. It serves as a hub connecting people, communities, companies, and local governments involved in food, circulating project-based cycles of planning, development, production, and service related to food. It consists of four spaces: the laboratory and factory “Research Institute,” the test kitchen “Cooking Room,” the grocery “Pantry,” and the cafe and wine bar “Kissashitsu / Mary Jane.” By combining planning and experience with what had traditionally been functionally focused business models centered on development and production, NSK proposes innovative services through food communities that intersect with design, fashion, art, music, cinema, travel, SDGs, and other cultures. It will open a base at Forestgate Daikanyama, a new commercial facility proposing a lifestyle in which work, living, and leisure are close together, and will take on the challenge of creating new food culture. Company overview: Japan Food Laboratory Inc. (NSK) was established in February 2022. The representative is Satoshi Nagasuna. The company is located at 1F Kabutocho Dai-7 Heiwa Building, 6-7 Nihonbashi Kabutocho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo. Capital is 251.4 million yen. Its businesses include management of food and beverage creators such as chefs, pastry chefs, and sommeliers; ODM food production; product planning and production; and contracted operation of dining facilities.