25-07-2025
Younger diners prepared to break 1,000-yen barrier for ramen: survey
TOKYO, Japan Wire - Younger diners in Japan are showing an appetite for bowls of ramen noodles costing over 1,000 yen ($7), crossing a line that underscores the dishes' reputation for affordability, according to a recent survey.
Around 700 yen to 800 yen was considered the appropriate price for a standard bowl of ramen by 56.3 percent of respondents to the online survey conducted in June by restaurant search website operator Gurunavi Inc. with responses from 1,300 people in their 20s to 60s. At the upper end of the scale, 33.7 percent said that 1,000 yen was the most they were prepared to pay.
But as ramen restaurant operators look for ways to pass increasing production costs behind a serving of the Japanese soup noodles onto customers, it is younger diners whose appetites appear least likely to be spoiled by higher prices.
According to the survey, 58.4 percent of respondents in their 20s said they were prepared to pay over 1,000 yen for a bowl of ramen. Even for a standard dish, 19.7 percent of them considered at least 1,000 yen to be an appropriate price, far greater than any other age group.
'I think ramen is priced too cheaply given the effort that goes into it,' a respondent in their 20s said in a written response to the survey.
In contrast, among respondents in their 50s, of which males were found to be among the most frequent consumers of ramen, only 36.5 percent were prepared to pay over 1,000 yen, the survey said.
Across all age groups, however, 93.7 percent of respondents said they felt that the cost of ramen had increased recently, with 41.6 percent going out to eat ramen on fewer occasions than they did two or three years ago.
Despite customers being conscious of price increases, some ramen restaurant operators are enjoying growth in the market.
Sales at ramen restaurants were estimated to have reached around 790 billion yen ($5.4 billion) in fiscal 2024, an increase of around 56 percent from 2014, according to Teikoku Databank Ltd. The number of restaurants operated by major chains also increased over the same period to an estimated 6,200 in 2024, an increase of around 1,200, according to the research organization.
In a report published in July, Teikoku Databank said that growing demand for ramen among foreign tourists had enabled major chains to increase restaurant openings and achieve sales that overcame rising production costs.
Operators were also able to get around the so-called 1,000-yen price barrier by offering limited-time-only dishes and expanding set menus, the report said.
This article was submitted by a contributing writer for publication on Japan Wire.
