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The story
On October 5, JR East Cross Station Foods Company announced it will merge its station soba shop brands, including “Irori-an Kiraku,” into a new unified brand called “Soba Ichi.” According to commenters, Funabashi Station had already gotten the renovation ahead of everywhere else back in April. On 5ch, the thread mixed wistful comments lamenting that “Kiraku tasted better,” accounts from Kansai residents and others describing their culture shock at Kanto’s distinctively jet-black soy-based broth, and worries that udon might get axed in the consolidation — with the discussion even branching into taste comparisons against Fuji Soba, Hakone Soba, and Metro-an.
Published
Author: Yasuhiro Sasaki
JR East Cross Station Foods Company announced on the 5th that the station soba brand
Source: news.mynavi.jp / Original article here
What people said
Only know Kiraku.
Like 'whoa, the broth's pitch black'?
Kansai udon just doesn't have much impact, honestly.
I prefer Kanto's jet-black soy sauce broth — it's got more punch.
A guy from Osaka at my company said the smell of the soy sauce hit him harder than the color did.
The taste probably won't change though?
Their cold soba is great.
Metro-an is way better.
Stand-and-eat soba doesn't feel convenient anymore, it just feels like it's winding down.
Are Oedo Soba and Sobadokoro changing too?
Yayoiken at Abiko Station is run by an independent operator, right?
Personally I'm not a fan since it lacks chewiness, but to me Kiraku is mainly known as a katsudon place.
Still better than Fuji Soba though.
There's a Soba Ichi at Ueno but I haven't tried it.
It's weird letting JR Shikoku rake in profits in the greater Tokyo area.
It's just a job of killing one brand and launching a new one.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Station soba has historically run under multiple parallel brands depending on the rail line and location — “Irori-an Kiraku,” “Ajisai,” “Soba Ichi,” and others — and this consolidation looks like a move to unify them into one. According to commenters, Funabashi Station had already undergone the renovation from “Irori-an Kiraku” to “Soba Ichi” ahead of the rest, back in April this year. What split the thread was how people reacted to regional differences: there was a gap between reactions that took Kanto’s jet-black broth made with dark soy sauce for granted, and the surprise of people from Kansai and other regions seeing it for the first time — highlighting how even the same “station soba” carries different baseline assumptions depending on the region. On the other hand, the article never explicitly states whether udon will remain on the menu after the brand consolidation, or what will happen to other brands like “Ajisai,” so it’s worth noting that most of the comments are speculation rather than confirmed fact.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt and summary from the 5ch (Business News+) thread ‘JR East Consolidates Station Soba Brands into “Soba Ichi,” “Kiraku” to Disappear‘.
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