Wander around Bangkok’s department stores and lifestyle complexes, and there’s no shortage of high-quality Japanese restaurants. Parts of Dusit Central Park’s top floor look like a Japanese department store, and the same goes with One Bangkok. Thais simply love Japanese culture and cuisine. We soak up the highballs, consume the content, and plan our trips to Japan meticulously.

Thais and Japan are synonymous. Just scroll through your social feed and see how many friends and co-workers head to destinations such as Tokyo, Kyoto, NIseko and Okinawa. There are dedicated Facebook groups that offer exclusive restaurant reservations, car rental services, and guides tailored for Thai tourists. We may be biased, but we don’t think these subcultures are prevalent in many other cultures.

What is it about Tokyo? A truly blended city where innovation and heritage coexist and work together. Japanese culture resonates with Thais, appealing to our core tastes and preferences in a way that fast-moving capitals like Seoul and Shanghai cannot. Most of us are big fans, and this also means that we’re experienced in Japanese cuisine. Bangkok has evolved into something of a “Little Tokyo” in recent years, with Thais seamlessly moving from one new Japanese spot to another, chasing authentic taste.

New restaurants aren’t just serving sushi and salmon teriyaki, they’re real deal imports straight from Japan. Off the top of our heads, recent openings include Tsukishima Monja Moheji in One Bangkok, where savory pancakes are cooked on a griddle at your table. Kaneko Hannosuke, the classic tempura rice bowl chain from Tokyo, is also at One Bangkok. Hikiniku To Come, a Tokyo-based hamburg chain, is now open at Central World and Dusit Central Park. Ginza’s Koubai shabu is also at Dusit Central Park; the list goes on.

Beyond department stores, hidden gems are tucked away in residential neighborhoods or hidden sois. Not exactly hailing from Japan in terms of franchise, but definitely in terms of inspiration and creation, Kataru Ramen by Slurp Brothers operates on a reservation-only basis (and it’s not easy), and serves up limited edition craft ramen for diners. We don’t even need to list a handful of izakayas that are tucked away and scattered across Sukhumvit.

For Japanese restaurants with a forward, global aspiration, Bangkok serves as a strong litmus test and a window to the world. Thais are savvy enough to distinguish authentic dishes from those driven purely by branding. For some, restaurants from Tokyo are a “treat” for Thais, especially since we cannot afford to travel to Japan every other month. Sometimes, though, we feel that as more restaurants open in Bangkok, the place feels less sacred. There’s something about having things we like to experience abroad, when we’re lucky enough to be able to travel and soak up pockets of culture, of undiscovered alleys and restaurants that we feel “only we know.” There is such a thing as overexposure, and at the risk of sounding ungrateful, there’s magic in inaccessibility too.

But to restaurants and chains, Bangkok must hold a certain allure. We think it must be a combination of demand, high literacy, and fluency of Japanese cuisine and trend-savvy customers. For a restaurant to diversify and expand out of its home turf, there must be a significant opportunity for monetization. For the Japanese brand, expanding to Bangkok seems like the easiest first step, a test kitchen to global expansion of sorts.