People who still abuse ¥1,000 ramen on social networking sites should update their common sense.

Is the “¥1,000 barrier” being lost?

For a long time, the “1,000-yen barrier” existed in restaurants. If a customer did not receive change for a 1,000-yen bill at lunch, he or she felt that the bill was too expensive, and the number of customers declined. Ramen, which has been considered a “popular food,” has been said to be particularly difficult to overcome this barrier. According to a survey conducted by the gourmet food website Gurunavi in June of this year, 90% of all respondents answered that the appropriate price for ramen is “less than 1,000 yen.

In the early ’00s, as deflation worsened and the price of a beef bowl was 280 yen and a McDonald’s hamburger was 65 yen, are the memories of this still fresh in the minds of middle-aged and older people? Compared to other countries, Japan has seen the development of food and beverage chains, with companies competing with each other and “cheap and tasty” being taken for granted.

However, prices of raw materials, labor, utilities, rent, and everything else are rising. The weak yen has brought an increase in the number of foreign tourists visiting Japan. Most of the popular restaurants selected as Bib Gourmands in the “Michelin Guide Tokyo” charge more than 1,000 yen even for basic ramen.

While the “1,000-yen barrier” is disappearing in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Captain Ide, 44, a ramen writer and author of “How much is the right price for a bowl of ramen” (Hayakawa Shinsho) who eats ramen all over Japan, says, “A bowl of ramen for 1,800 yen is not expensive.

Soba and sushi have become “tripolarized.

The price of ramen, however, has evolved in its own unique way. However, ramen has evolved in its own way, and there are an increasing number of restaurants that do not care about the “1,000-yen barrier,” such as those that sell ramen for nearly 2,000 yen and paid reservation tickets, and those that do not disclose their addresses and require complete reservations.

To cite one example, a bowl of ramen at “Iida Shoten” in Yugawara, Kanagawa Prefecture, costs 1,800 yen. Even so, I do not find it expensive. Not only is the food delicious, but the restaurant is clean and the service is outstanding. Iida Shoten does not serve three bowls of ramen at the same time to three customers with small children. The restaurant does this for the sake of efficiency. The parents would not complain if they were served at the same time.

However, there is a time difference. This is because parents will feed the small children first and then start eating themselves. If they are served at the same time, the noodles of the parent’s ramen will stretch and the soup will cool down while the child eats. If they have come all this way, they want their ramen to be freshly prepared and served from the customer’s point of view. Such a restaurant will not lose customers even if it raises its prices.

In the case of soba, there are inexpensive stand-up soba restaurants, town soba restaurants, and high-end soba restaurants. The same is true for sushi: there are conveyor-belt sushi chains, sushi restaurants in town, and upscale restaurants. Each has its own characteristics, and customers naturally use them differently according to their purposes and pocketbooks.

Soba and sushi are tripolar, with each having its own merits, and eaters naturally accept each type of food. When I write about high-priced ramen, people on social networking sites say, “Too expensive!　I would go to Hidakaya five times. How many times would they write ‘I would go to Saizeriya’ in an article about a famous Italian restaurant?

Even the most cutting-edge restaurants don’t get the credit they deserve.

As in the old machichuwa, soup can be made from low-cost ingredients such as chicken or pork bones and vegetable scraps. However, even if the cost of raw materials for a bowl of ramen is reduced, the gas is still used for hours to make the soup. There must also be a price to be paid for the daily study of the artisan who determines the taste of the soup. Invisible costs are also included in the donburi.

In January 2011, Keisuke Honda, 39, a former member of the Japanese national soccer team, visited a ramen restaurant in X. The price of 730 yen is too low for such a delicious dish. The price should be raised a little more. Or rather, various industries should raise their prices a little more. It has become too polarized between too expensive and too cheap. Next time I eat ramen, I will pay 2,000 yen. I’ ll pay 2,000 yen the next time I eat ramen .

The evolution of ramen has been remarkable from the Heisei Era to Reiwa 2025, with new ramen being born every year for the past 20 years. The Michelin Guide has had a new ramen category since 2002, and the number of restaurants that focus on ingredients and production methods has increased. Ramen that can compete with the finest Japanese, French, and Italian restaurants is now being created. And yet, the image of Showa-era mass-market food has not been wiped away, and cutting-edge ramen stores are lumped together without due recognition.

The three polarizations are inexpensive chain restaurants, ramen stores that cater to the common man, and evolutionary upscale restaurants. Among these, it is the “common-style” ramen stores that lack capital power and must work hard to attract customers that have a difficult time establishing their position. Will they be able to survive in an era of inflation?

The strength of a ramen restaurant is that it can open even in a location that other restaurants shy away from. Even if 80% of the 100 people who visit the restaurant do not think it is delicious, it will thrive if it attracts a core of 20-30% of the restaurant’s fans.

However, unlike ordinary restaurants, ramen shops do not sell alcohol, which has a high profit margin. The question is whether or not they can compete solely on ramen. The profit margin on ramen alone is enough to cover the cost of ingredients, labor, and rent.

In February 2012, the owner of “Chinese Soba Hirai,” which opened in Fuchu City in 2009 and is located 1.5 km away from the nearest station, became a thriving restaurant and seemed to be sailing smoothly. Interesting restaurants are being created today that continue to evolve.”

Ramen is becoming a world-class Japanese food along with sushi. Ramen from chain restaurants where you can get change for a single coin, ramen as a popular meal, and evolved ramen for a special occasion – these are the types of ramen that we want to enjoy. Ramen can be enjoyed for a variety of purposes.

How much is the right price for a bowl of ramen?