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Kyodo News
25-07-2025
- Business
- Kyodo News
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.
Kyodo News
02-07-2025
- Business
- Kyodo News
We have rebranded!
We have rebranded! On July 1, 2025, we launched Japan Wire by Kyodo News, rebranding our English-language business-to-consumer online site previously called Kyodo News Plus. As is the case for Kyodo News Plus, Japan Wire will carry select articles that Kyodo, an international news agency based in Tokyo, runs from an impartial and independent perspective. Additionally, we will enrich our English-language content with an increased use of photos, videos and other visual materials so as to spark the curiosity of readers around the world. We are also planning to introduce a system in the near future for a more interactive experience for site visitors. We express our deep gratitude to all those who have enjoyed Kyodo News Plus since its inception in 2017. We will do our best to meet your expectations for the new content that Kyodo and our media partners at home and abroad will launch through Japan Wire. Toshimitsu Sawai President, Kyodo News
Kyodo News
01-07-2025
- Business
- Kyodo News
Japan's leading news agency.
About Connecting the world through trust, sparking your curiosity. Japan Wire by Kyodo News accurately and speedily delivers important news from Japan with wide-ranging coverage of politics, the economy, diplomacy, security, social issues and sports from a fair and unbiased perspective. In addition, collaborating with partner media, we provide the world with visually rich content about Japanese and Asian culture, tourism, social trends and technology, integrating text stories with photos and videos. Kyodo News, a leading news organization in Japan and also an international news agency with a focus on Asia, provides news to the world in the English language as Kyodo World Service (KWS), and has been posting selected articles from KWS on the Kyodo News Plus (KNP) website. Japan Wire by Kyodo News, which took over KNP in the summer of 2025, will continue to deliver the news and content that the world wants. One of the precursors to Kyodo News, Kokusai Tsushinsha (International News Agency) was established in 1914 to help the international community gain a better understanding of Japan. The father of Japanese capitalism, Eiichi Shibusawa, who led the project to establish the news agency, had strongly felt during a visit to the United States that "correct information about Japan was not reaching overseas." Inheriting this vision, Kyodo News was established in 1945 and launched Japan's first post-war outgoing news medium, the Japan Newsletter, in 1951. In 1965, it started KWS, a B2B English language news service essentially for foreign media and governments. It is now read worldwide and considered a reliable source of news about Japan. If you are interested please contact us.
Kyodo News
25-06-2025
- Business
- Kyodo News
We are rebranding!
Starting July 1, 2025, Kyodo News Plus, our English-language business-to-consumer online site, will be rebranded as "Japan Wire by Kyodo News." As is the case for Kyodo News Plus, Japan Wire will carry select articles that Kyodo, an international news agency based in Tokyo, runs from an impartial and independent perspective. Additionally, we will enrich our English-language content with an increased use of photos, videos and other visual materials so as to spark the curiosity of readers around the world. We are also planning to introduce a system in the near future for a more interactive experience for site visitors. We express our deep gratitude to all those who have enjoyed Kyodo News Plus since its inception in 2017. We will do our best to meet your expectations for the new content that Kyodo and our media partners at home and abroad will launch through Japan Wire.
