Japanese Curry: The Dish That Was Named Best in the World:

In December 2022, the European food and travel site Taste Atlas published its “Best Traditional Food in the World” ranking, covering the top 100 traditional dishes globally. The dish that took the number one spot was, somewhat surprisingly, Japanese curry.

A Result That Surprised Even Japanese People

A lot of Japanese people, having grown up thinking of curry as fundamentally an Indian dish, were genuinely surprised by this result. But when you actually think it through, it makes sense: Japanese curry has evolved along its own distinct path over more than a century, arriving from Britain during the Meiji era (1868 to 1912) and gradually transforming into something with its own identity, flavor, and place in everyday life. In that sense, it occupies a similar position to Thai curry, a dish clearly related to a broader regional tradition, but one that has firmly established its own national identity along the way. Taste Atlas itself described Japanese curry as one of the country’s most popular dishes, noting that it uses flour and a roux-based thickening method that makes it milder and richer than Indian curry, rather than being defined by intense heat.

It’s also worth noting that Japanese curry wasn’t alone in that ranking. The same list included several other Japanese dishes: tonkotsu ramen came in at 21st, katsudon at 30th, curry rice specifically at 43rd, shoyu ramen at 44th, salmon nigiri sushi at 46th, gyoza at 47th, yaki udon at 54th, ebi fry at 56th, gyudon at 67th, miso ramen at 83rd, and shio ramen at 85th, a genuinely strong showing for Japanese food across the board.

Why Japanese Curry Is So Deeply Woven into Everyday Life

Because pre-made curry roux is sold at every supermarket in Japan, curry is one of the most commonly cooked meals at home, closer to a weekly staple in a lot of households than a special dish. Homemade Japanese curry is typically defined by generously sized chunks of vegetables and meat, potatoes, carrots, and onions simmered until tender in a thick, mildly spiced sauce, then served over rice. It’s comfort food in the truest sense, the kind of dish most Japanese people grew up eating regularly as kids.

The Range You’ll Find at Restaurants and Specialty Shops

Beyond the homestyle version, restaurants and dedicated curry shops offer a genuinely wide range of styles worth exploring:

Katsu curry: a breaded, fried pork cutlet served on top of curry rice, combining the crispness of tonkatsu with the rich sauce underneath, one of the most popular ways to eat curry at a restaurant.
Keema curry: a drier, ground meat-based curry, generally spicier and more intensely flavored than the standard roux-based version, closer in spirit to Indian-style keema but still filtered through a Japanese approach to spicing.
Countless other regional and restaurant-specific variations, from soup curry (a Hokkaido specialty with a thinner, brothier sauce) to curry udon, each offering a genuinely different take on the same basic concept.
Spice curry, a specific and increasingly popular category built around shops that blend their own original spice combinations rather than relying on pre-made roux, has grown significantly in popularity in recent years, appealing to curry enthusiasts looking for more complex, chef-driven flavor profiles than the standard household style.

Why You Should Try It While You’re in Japan

If you’re visiting Japan, it’s genuinely worth eating curry at least once, and finding a place to do so is about as easy as it gets. Small local diners throughout the country serve genuinely good curry, and you don’t need to seek out a specialty shop or a famous restaurant to have a satisfying meal. Between homestyle curry, katsu curry, keema curry, and the newer spice curry shops, there’s enough variety that trying more than one version during your trip is a reasonable, worthwhile thing to do.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Japanese curry spicy like Indian curry? Generally no, the standard roux-based Japanese curry is mild, sweet, and rich rather than intensely spiced, though keema curry and many spice curry shops offer noticeably spicier, more complex options if that’s what you’re looking for.

Where can I find good curry without much searching? Nearly anywhere, small local diners, family restaurant chains, and dedicated curry shops all serve it, making it one of the easiest Japanese dishes to find no matter where you are in the country.

Is the Taste Atlas ranking a serious, widely respected list? It generated plenty of discussion and some skepticism in Japan itself, particularly around whether curry truly counts as a “traditional” dish given its relatively recent history in the country, but it reflects genuine, widespread international recognition of how deeply curry has become part of Japan’s food identity.

What’s the difference between curry served at home and at a restaurant? Home curry tends to be simpler, big chunks of vegetables and meat in a mild roux-based sauce, while restaurants and specialty shops offer far more variety, from katsu curry and keema curry to entirely different regional styles like soup curry.

Next Steps

Try Japanese curry at least once during your trip, and don’t feel like you need to seek out anything special to do it, a small neighborhood diner is often enough. If you want to explore further, look for a katsu curry, a keema curry, or one of the newer spice curry shops to see the range this dish covers beyond the everyday homestyle version.

This post is part of an ongoing series on Japan travel planning. Check back for more guides on Japanese food worth seeking out

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