Jul 25 (Nikkei) - Hanasato, a high-end Japanese restaurant housed in a sprawling mansion surrounded by lush gardens, has been serving traditional multicourse kaiseki cuisine in the suburbs of Yokohama for decades. But on July 19, Hanasato welcomed diners for the last time, ending its 40-year history as a purveyor of traditional Japanese fine dining.
Hanasato's decision to close its doors follows in the footsteps of Tokyo Mimiu, a Japanese restaurant famous for its udon sukiyaki, which closed its six restaurants in the Japanese capital in May. Zuboraya, a restaurant which has been serving fugu in Osaka since 1920, will also shutter its two stores in September.
The three Japanese restaurants are among the earliest and most high-profile business victims of the coronavirus pandemic in Japan. But they are likely to be only the first of many. "I think there will be more closures from now on," says Koji Kashiwabara, chair of the Japan Gastronomy Association. "Everyone is saying that many restaurants that manage to survive through July won't make it after August" because of the slow recovery in business, Kashiwabara adds.
Japan has fared relatively well amid the spread of COVID-19, with the number of infections and deaths relatively low -- at 27,956 and 992, respectively, as of July 25 -- compared with regions such as the U.S. and Europe. Restrictions on social and commercial activities have also been looser than in many other parts of the world.
Nevertheless, more than a month after the Japanese government lifted a state of national emergency at the end of May, restaurants continue to suffer from a sharp drop in business amid a mood of jishuku, or restraint, that has settled over the country.
Restaurant sales dropped 32.2% in May, following a 39.6% decline in April, according to the Japan Foodservice Association. In particular, high-end restaurants saw a 71.5% drop in sales in May. "Survival will be extremely difficult," says Makoto Oshima, owner of Ukiyo, a ryotei, or high-end Japanese restaurant that also provides entertainment, in Niigata Prefecture.
While the impact of jishuku is being felt across the board in the hospitality sector, there is concern that the damage wrought by COVID-19 could result in irreparable harm to restaurants serving Japanese cuisine, and even threaten the future of Japan's culinary culture.
Depending on how the industry responds to this crisis, "we could lose what should be a very important national heritage," says Shinichiro Takagi, chef-proprietor of Zeniya, a high-end Japanese restaurant in Kanazawa.
Even before COVID-19 landed on Japan's shores, Japanese restaurants were hurting from a steady decline in customers. A survey conducted last year by the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare found that only 46% of respondents had visited a restaurant serving Japanese cuisine in the previous three years, even though the definition of "Japanese restaurant" included casual eateries serving curry rice and other comfort food.
