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The story
Matsuya Foods announced on October 9 that it will raise prices across the board by 20 yen on all beef-rice (gyumeshi) items starting at 3 p.m. on the 13th. The regular size will go from 460 yen to 480 yen, and the morning set meal and kids’ curry are also subject to the increase. The company cites rising raw material and labor costs as the reason, but the thread was split over the hike, with questions like “rice prices are falling, so why raise prices?”, comparisons with other chains like Yoshinoya and CoCo Ichibanya, and comments such as “once set meals go over 1000 yen, you can’t really call it a beef bowl shop anymore.”
Matsuya Foods, which operates the beef bowl chain “Matsuya,” announced on the 9th that it will raise prices on some products starting at 3 p.m. on the 13th. The move reflects rising raw material and labor costs, and as part of it, all beef-rice (gyumeshi) items will see a uniform 20 yen price increase across every size.
Among the main items, the regular size of the “Gyumeshi” (beef rice bowl) will rise from the current 460 yen to 480 yen, the “Value Morning Beef Plate Set” will go from 400 yen to 430 yen, and the “Kids’ Curry” will go from 450 yen to 480 yen.
Jiji Press, Economic Affairs Department — delivered October 9, 2026, 18:19
Source: jiji.com / Original article here
What people said
For me it's the beef set meal
That was before they ruined it
It's a miso soup shop, actually?
Whenever TV news covers rice prices falling, every interview comment is like "it's so much cheaper, what a relief" — are they deliberately not airing the "it's still expensive" comments?
Wait, huh?
They're hiking prices while the rice portions are still obviously shrunk? (said completely flat)
Whenever TV news covers rice prices falling, every interview comment is like "it's so much cheaper, what a relief" — are they deliberately not airing the "it's still expensive" comments?
That's because it's got milk poured on it — ask them to leave it out
If they ever start charging extra for the miso soup, I'm done with Matsuya
Why do you assume the other chains aren't raising prices too?
That one's getting a ¥10 price hike too, you know
That's a ¥30 price hike, lol
Beef, labor costs, and utility bills
I buy it in like 48-pack sets whenever it's on sale
Because starting in October they have to raise part-timers' hourly wage by almost ¥60
1 Anonymous Wanted… 2026/10/08 (Thu) 16:48:04.04 0
Free refills on rice and miso soup
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I want them to bring back that limited-time menchi katsu (minced meat cutlet)… the tasty tomato menchi katsu was so good
Matsuya always gets these mysterious defenders showing up, but it's genuinely reached an unreasonable level now. Every set meal is basically ¥1000, and you can't even relax in the store — ¥1000 for that just doesn't work. At CoCo Ichibanya you can get a pork curry for around ¥650 and sit reading manga for an hour.
During COVID, head office decided on a policy of pushing up the average spend per customer
That's just "inflation brain" — failing to understand that wages never rise faster than prices. Price increases without real economic growth are simply eroding the yen's value domestically, nothing more.
Yoshinoya's the tastiest, lol
Yeah, kimukaru is the best — topping it with sweet sauce and shichimi pepper is the ultimate
Background and Talking Points
Price hikes at beef bowl chains have happened almost every year in recent times, and this time rising labor costs are cited alongside raw material costs as the reason. The question repeated throughout the thread — “why raise prices when rice prices are falling?” — stems from the fact that retail rice prices and the wholesale prices restaurants pay don’t move on the same timeline, and that the cost pressures behind the hike go beyond rice alone to include beef, utilities, and labor. October also coincides with the annual minimum wage revision, making it a time when part-timers’ higher hourly wages tend to get passed straight through to menu prices. At the same time, persistent frustration over set meals approaching the ¥1000 mark remains strong, and comparisons with lower-priced rival chains like CoCo Ichibanya appear to be fueling the backlash against the price increase.
*This article is compiled from excerpts and a summary of the 5ch (News Express+) thread “[Matsuya] All beef bowl items up 20 yen starting the 13th — regular size now ¥480.”
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