Merlin Labron-Johnson (Osip | UK) × Yuta Hamada (nei | Toyama)

nei, the restaurant located within Rakudo-An, is pleased to announce a special collaboration dinner welcoming

Merlin Labron-Johnson, chef of the UK-based auberge restaurant Osip, from Somerset, England.

He will be joined by Yuta Hamada, head chef at nei, for a one-night-only collaborative dining experience.

■ Osip (Somerset, United Kingdom)

Osip is a farm-to-table restaurant set in the countryside of southwest England, where Merlin Labron-Johnson crafts dishes using vegetables grown by the restaurant itself and ingredients sourced from nearby farms–often harvested the same day.

Rather than a fixed menu, each day’s dishes are born from a deep attentiveness to seasonality and the quiet narratives which emerge from the ingredients themselves.

Guided by a philosophy of cooking in harmony with the land, Merlin’s cuisine is defined by sincerity rather than excess.

Osip currently holds one Michelin star and has received international acclaim, including Time Out UK’s “Best Restaurants 2025” and Condé Nast Traveller’s “50 Best Restaurants in the World.”

■ nei (Tonami, Toyama)

Opened in October 2025 within Rakudo-An, nei is rooted in the landscape and daily life of the Tonami Plain’s sankyoson scattered village.

The restaurant offers cuisine shaped by the ingredients of each day and season, drawn from the surrounding mountains, sea, and land of Toyama.

Chef Yuta Hamada’s cooking features seafood and mountain produce gently fire-roasted over firewood sourced from the kainyo groves of the sankyoson.

Grounded in traditional Japanese techniques, his cuisine expresses the quiet depth and natural richness of the land—what he calls “Kyomi Washoku,” a contemporary regional cuisine of humble, nourishing flavors.

After training at renowned restaurants in Tokyo, Hamada returned to Toyama, where he has opened multiple establishments. His work has been featured in the Michelin Hokuriku Guide and Gault & Millau, and he has received numerous accolades, including recognition as the youngest-ever Honorary Sake Sommelier.

■ A Meeting of Lands and Philosophies

United by a shared respect for ingredients and place, these two chefs come together in Toyama’s sankyoson landscape to create a singular dining experience.

Crossing borders and climates, the collaboration invites guests to taste the present moment—expressed through a single plate, shaped by land, season, and craft.

Event Details

Date: Wednesday, January 21, 2026

Time:

  5:00 PM / 8:00 PM

  (Two seatings, 8 guests per seating)

Venue: nei (Restaurant at Rakudo-An)

645 Nomurajima, Tonami City, Toyama 939-1334, Japan

Reservations & Inquiries

Email: info@rakudoan.jp

Phone: nei +81-763-77-3999