Japan's casual dining chains woo solo eaters in pandemic age

Feb 12, 2022 | News On Japan

Feb 12, 2022 (Nikkei) - Cheaper than full-fledged restaurants but a step up from fast food, Japan's diner-style chains are a popular, quick way to feed a hungry family.

But the "family restaurant" business model has been disrupted by COVID-19. The families themselves are not returning.

Skylark Holdings, one of Japan's leading operators in this field, will reconfigure locations accordingly. Counter seats will be added at 360 stores it plans to open or renovate in 2022.

The aim is to lure in more solo customers.

Seats will be added at Gusto casual eateries, American-style Jonathan's stores and the Bamiyan chain of Chinese restaurants, for example. Each location will have five or six seats, equipped with power outlets.

Skylark has experimented with counter seats before, but this will mark its first time introducing them on a nationwide basis.

Skylark has struggled to attract solo customers. It introduced touch-screen menus in 2020 for individual guests to place orders from without interacting with servers.

Last February, the group introduced stores specializing in takeout and deliveries.

The Gusto chain has cut lunchtime prices at its drink bar, with an eye on demand from solo customers as they work from home.

Typhoons No. 28 and 29 Bring High Waves to Japan's Pacific Coast

Two typhoons moving across the Pacific southeast of Japan are expected to remain well away from the Japanese mainland, but powerful swells could bring rough seas to a wide stretch of the country's Pacific coastline throughout the three-day holiday weekend, according to forecasts updated at 3 a.m. on October 10.

Cyberattacks Spread Across Japan

A series of cyberattacks has disrupted business operations and exposed millions of customer records across Japan, with a ransomware attack on a cloud service provider affecting 495 companies and local governments nationwide, while convenience store operator Lawson has disclosed a separate breach involving more than 2.15 million personal information records.

Japan's First 360-Degree Projection Mapping Opens in Osaka

Japan's first 360-degree projection mapping show will open at the Osaka City Museum of Fine Arts on October 10, transforming the historic building into an immersive world of light, music, and seasonal imagery, with organizers hoping the attraction will also help stimulate the city's nighttime economy.

Tokyo University Professor Wins Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Tokyo University of Science professor emeritus Kenzo Soai has been awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry together with French chemist Henri B. Kagan for discoveries that transformed scientists' understanding of how chemical reactions can favor one of two mirror-image forms of a molecule.

US Military Halts All Okinawa Operations for 48 Hours

The US military suspended activities by all forces stationed in Okinawa for 48 hours from noon on October 7, an unusual measure following the arrest of a US Marine in connection with a robbery and murder case that has renewed scrutiny of crimes involving American service members.

MEDIA CHANNELS

MORE Society NEWS

Most Sightings of Fugitive Yoichi Hatta Reported in Kanto

Police in Oita Prefecture have revealed that the Kanto region accounts for the largest number of reported sightings of Yoichi Hatta, a fugitive wanted in connection with a fatal hit-and-run incident in Beppu in 2022, with authorities preparing to distribute new wanted posters nationwide from November as the search enters its fifth year.