About us
A “Tanuki” is a cheeky badger who is always drinking sake and having a good time! Tanuki Japanese Restaurant was first established in 1994 and was the first Izakaya style Japanese restaurant in New Zealand. 30+ years later it is still serving fresh and authentic Japanese dishes made by our all Japanese kitchen team
Our founder was Rick Littlewood, a man who loved Japan, eating and drinking! With no previous restaurant experience he set about recreating the izakaya experience that he loved so much from his countless visits to Japan to practice judo, meeting his Japanese in-laws and stay in his machiya (traditional townhouse) in Kyoto
To make an inquiry please fill in the contact form below
For bookings, please use our booking form. For The Cave yakitori bar underneath us tanukiscave@sakebars.co.nz
Please also call us or email us if your reservation is for more than 14 guests, as we have tables and a private dining room available for larger group bookings.
For SAME DAY reservations after 4:00pm, call us on (09) 379 5353.
If we don’t pick up, it means we are super busy serving diners