The person carving the tuna on stage on New Year’s Eve is none other than the hotel’s general manager. Hotel Nikko Himeji, in front of JR Himeji Station, will hold the “Maguro! Maguro! Maguro! New Year’s Eve & New Year Family Buffet” (maguro means tuna) in Korin, its large banquet hall on the 3rd floor, for dinner on Thursday, December 31, 2026, and for lunch and dinner on Friday, January 1, 2027 (a national holiday). It is a chance for the whole family to see out the old year and welcome the new one around the table in a hotel banquet hall. Reservations open on Wednesday, October 14 at 13:00.
The general manager wields the knife himself
The main attraction is a tuna-carving show on stage. Holding the knife is not a chef but the hotel’s general manager, 片岡哲. The tuna he carves in front of guests is cut up and served on the spot. A bingo game with luxurious prizes is also planned.
The price includes free-flow soft drinks, consumption tax and service charge. Adults can upgrade to free-flow alcoholic drinks for an extra ¥2,000. Preschool children are a flat ¥500, and there is a separate price for elementary school children. That makes it easy for families with small children to plan their budget, and it looks well suited to a year-end or New Year get-together with three generations.
Crab and teppanyaki, plus osechi and zoni on New Year’s Day
The buffet tables are lined with Japanese, Western and Chinese dishes. Boiled snow crab, cocktail shrimp, and a tasting comparison of bigeye and yellowfin tuna sashimi are served at both lunch and dinner. The hotel’s restaurants also contribute: chilled jellyfish and char siu pork from the Chinese restaurant Tori, and teppanyaki of Japanese beef sirloin from the teppanyaki restaurant Icho.
Dinner features dishes such as Wagyu beef shank stew, chawanmushi (savory egg custard) with pufferfish milt, abalone and scallop cocotte, and shark fin soup with crab meat. There are also kid-friendly options such as omurice (omelet rice) and cheese dogs with French fries.
The menu also changes by date. New Year’s Eve dinner comes with toshikoshi soba (year-crossing noodles), while New Year’s Day dinner adds osechi (traditional New Year dishes), clear-broth zoni (New Year rice-cake soup), zenzai (sweet red bean soup) and tempura. New Year’s Day lunch offers osechi and zoni, plus dim sum, buri daikon (yellowtail simmered with daikon radish), Kobe pork blanquette and more. The venue, Hotel Nikko Himeji, stands at the gateway to the city that is home to Himeji Castle, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and from the top-floor lounge you can take in a full view of the illuminated castle.
Event details
- Name: Maguro! Maguro! Maguro! New Year’s Eve & New Year Family Buffet
- Dates: Thursday, December 31, 2026, dinner (reception 17:30, start 18:00); Friday, January 1, 2027 (holiday), lunch (reception 11:00, start 11:30) and dinner (reception 17:30, start 18:00)
- Venue: Korin banquet hall, 3F, Hotel Nikko Himeji (in front of JR Himeji Station)
- Price (dinner): adults ¥12,000 general / ¥11,000 One Harmony members; elementary school children ¥5,500 general / ¥5,000 members
- Price (lunch): adults ¥10,500 general / ¥9,500 members; elementary school children ¥5,000 general / ¥4,500 members
- Prices include consumption tax, service charge and free-flow soft drinks. Preschool children a flat ¥500. Free-flow alcohol: adult price plus ¥2,000
- Reservations open: Wednesday, October 14, 2026, 13:00
- Reservations and inquiries: Banquet Reservations, tel. 079-224-3911 (10:00–18:00)
- Details (Japanese): https://www.hotelnikkohimeji.co.jp/osusume/osusume-16950/
