Japanese restaurants are springing up in Melbourne like shiitake mushrooms.

Leading the pack, the team behind shokupan slinging Le Bajo Milkbar and musubi masters 279 are transforming the northern fringe of Melbourne's CBD into a beacon of Japanese culture, adding two new venues opposite Carlton's Lincoln Square.

Leonie Upstairs and Hareruya Pantry are, like Le Bajo and 279, extremely narrow in their focus, reflecting a commitment to culinary craft.

Leonie is a temaki (sushi handroll) and sake bar for 30 guests. Directly below it, Hareruya (rhymes with hallelujah) is a gelateria and convenience store, offering bento, sandos and musubi (meat and rice snacks), in a union of the team's specialities.

"Sunny shop is the literal translation," says co-owner Kantaro Okada of Hareruya. "We designed the products to be enjoyed at the park because we have lovely Lincoln Square just there."

Eight gelato flavours change each month, with genmaicha tea the most popular so far. Each scoop can be served in a cup, a rice wafer cone called a monaka or wrapped in a mochi cake, which has quickly become Hareruya's signature.

"There is a very popular Japanese ice-cream called Yukimi Daifuku but this is pre-made," co-owner Kantaro Okada of Hareruya. "I've never seen a shop do the wrapping in real time."

After dark, people file through a steel door at the back of Hareruya and head up to the minimalist and timber-clad Leonie.

Snacks are geared to a list of 50 or so sakes in styles ranging from sparkling to the top-end junmai daijingo. Steamed clams with miso and preserved lemon join scallop carpaccio with dill and grapefruit on the seafood-focused menu.

But temaki is the major focus. Commonly eaten at home in Japan, Okada wanted to bring it into a restaurant setting.

"By all means nigiri is the king of sushi, but I reckon there are really great perks about tamaki."

Creative combos are one such perk, with cured mackerel and ponzu jelly or a seafood bounty inspired by Hokkaido a step up from most hand rolls sold in Australia.

Guests can order a DIY temaki set, too, to come up with their own hand-held flavour bombs.

Dessert might be a gelato downstairs at Hareruya or a chestnut and meringue cake inspired by Piedmont's best-known dessert, the mont blanc, that's finished tableside.

South Yarra is also getting a taste of Japanese hyper-specialisation, with the opening last month of Yakikami, a yakitori bar serving pasure-raised chicken from Nomad Farms in South Australia. There are wings, thighs, ribs, gizzards and more chicken parts plus wild mushrooms, scallop and more.

Opened by Emily and Roy Yu (also behind Wagyu Ya and Niku Ou), Yakikami continues the couple's focus on Kobe beef, grilled on a Josper and available either a la carte or on a 10-course menu served at a chef's table for $285 per head. Philip Rich has designed the wine list.

Meanwhile, the more laissez-faire Ototo has opened in the CBD, offering izakaya-style bites drawn from Japan, China and beyond. Located below sister restaurant Akaiito, the speakeasy-style bar features booths and other nooks, dark stone and vivid splashes of red.

Steak tartare with shio koji and pear joins scallops with seaweed butter, and short-ribs paired with kimchi. Cocktails take a low-waste path and include a spritz made with sparkling sake, and Chinese tea-based drinks.

And amid the openings comes the sad news that Port Melbourne's YakiTori Bar, which opened in February 2020, will close this month.

Hareruya Pantry, 15-17 Lincoln Square South, Carlton, hareruya.com.au. Open daily 10.30am-10.30pm

Leonie Upstairs, level 1, 15-17 Lincoln Square South, Carlton, leonieupstairs.com.au. Open Wed-Sun 5.30pm-10.30pm

Yakikami, 150-152 Toorak Road, South Yarra, 03 9989 9312, yakikami.com.au. Open Wed-Sun 3pm-10pm

Ototo, basement, 349-351 Flinders Lane, Melbourne, 03 9620 1343, ototo.com.au. Open Tue-Sun 5pm-late