2009 Michelin Tokyo selection includes 9 restaurants with three stars, 36 with two stars and 128 with one star

Yesterday Michelin released its selection of recommended hotels and restaurants in the MICHELIN guide Tokyo 2009. The new edition features 203 establishments in all, a number that includes 173 restaurants and 30 hotels. Tokyo is tied with Paris for the number of three-star eateries. �Tokyo�s gastronomy has improved and evolved in the course of the year and the rise in stars shows that,� said Jean-Luc Naret, Director of Michelin Guides. �There is great potential in Tokyo and it can get even more stars.�

In the 2009 selection: - Ishikawa joins the three star selections. - 14 restaurants join the selection of two-star and 35 restaurants join the one-star. - With 227 stars in all, Tokyo strengthens the position of world leader in gourmet dining with more "stars" than any other city. This is 36 more stars than the 191 awarded to Tokyo last year.

Michelin updates MICHELIN guides every single year in order to provide readers most reliable information possible. All the restaurants and hotels selected in 2008 edition are reexamined, and establishments which are not selected and which could be interesting for Michelin readers are also inspected. Just after the launch of 2008 edition, specially assigned inspectors, both Japanese and European, full-time employees of Michelin, have been anonymously evaluating restaurants and hotels.

The 2009 selection covers 13 "Ku" (wards), wider area of Tokyo than the previous year by adding 5 "Ku". And to honor its outstanding cuisine, the unrivaled quality of the products used, the cooking techniques employed, its rich heritage and its culinary traditions, which are passed on from one generation to the next, the selection in the MICHELIN guide Tokyo 2009 continues to comprise exclusively of "starred" restaurants, like the 2008 selection. Japanese cuisine continues to represent more than 60% of the selected restaurants.

Michelin guide is well known by its pictograms, fork-and-spoon symbols (� to �) meaning the comfort for restaurants and pavilions (j to l) meaning the comfort for hotels. MICHELIN guide Tokyo 2009 has new features, by creating two pictograms, in order to adapt Japanese customs. One is "take-off the shoes (0)" and the other is "good selection of Sake (1)". Visit Tokyo, the Culinary Capital of the World, from Just �777 MICHELIN has just reconfirmed Tokyo as the culinary capital of the world. With Japan Travel Centre's fantastic new package, you can experience Tokyo's amazing restaurants, unique culture and cutting-edge technology from just �777.

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For more information or images please contact Kylie Clark, PR Manager Japan National Tourist Organization by e-mail kylie@jnto.co.uk or tel: +44 (0)20 7398 5670.