Chinese hot pot is hopping in Tokyo.

The tongue-tantalizing alchemy of huoguo, as the meal is called in Mandarin (hinabe in Japanese), has reached a steady simmer in the capital since making its earliest inroads some decades ago.

More than 3,000 huoguo restaurants open outside China every year. Tokyo has around 250 such establishments, with the majority concentrated in Ikebukuro, Shinjuku, Takadanobaba and Ueno — neighborhoods known for their significant Chinese business communities.