Japanese breakfasts - rice, miso soup, fish, pickles and nori (sheets of crispy seaweed) - are near impossible to find in modern-day Tokyo. Unless you' lucky enough to be living with Mom (who isn't herself rushing out the door to work), there are few options outside of the (expensive) hotels and ryokan for the fish and natto crowd. Which is a shame, since not only are Japanese breakfasts hearty enough to sustain you till midday, they're healthy, too, if you skip the salt-laden grilled fish.

As the salt content of Japanese breakfasts tends to be on the heavy side, drink lots of liquids during and after your meal. Mixing a raw egg into your rice mellows both saltiness and the pungency of natto - and tastes good, too!
Aeve Baldwin

Denny's
In terms of quality and quantity, the best of the bunch. At JY730, it's also the most expensive. The Oriental Breakfast Yakizakana consists of tender, made-to-order salmon (some places grill everything hours ahead of time so it arrives at room temperature) with grated daikon radish, miso soup, pickles, rice, nori, and natto. Raw eggs are extra. There's also an Oriental Breakfast Fried Eggs (JY580) which substitutes scrambled eggs with spinach for the salmon and natto. Each are served with hot or iced coffee, tea or ujicha (a green tea).
Locations: Nationwide. Open 24 hours, breakfast served 6-10am. Menu in English.

Rampu-Tei
This chain serves four breakfast sets, including a Westernized bacon and egg combo. Natto Teishoku (JY360) consists of rice, miso soup, pickles, nori, natto and raw egg; Tororo Teishoku (JY360) features tororo (grated mountain yam) with rice, miso soup, nori and pickles; the Bacon-Egg Teishoku (JY400) gives you two fried eggs with bacon and, naturally, rice, miso soup, nori and pickles; and finally, the Yakizakana Teishoku (JY460) features a not-very-freshly cooked slice of salmon with rice, miso soup, nori and pickles. Sides orders of tororo (JY110), natto (JY60), salmon (JY250) and raw egg (JY50) are also available.
Locations: Nationwide. Open 24 hours, breakfast served 5-11am. Menu in Japanese but picture menu available.

Yoshinoya
Huh? You mean the "beef bowl" place? Well, yes. In the mornings Yoshinoya serves three breakfast sets: A Natto Teishoku (JY370) of rice, miso soup, pickles, nori, natto and raw egg; Yakizakana Teishoku (JY400) is rice, grilled salmon, miso soup and pickles; and Tokuasa Teishoku (JY490) which is the Yakizakana Teishoku with natto and raw egg.
Locations: Nationwide. Open 24 hours, breakfast served 5-10am. Menu in Japanese but picture menu available.