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The story
Marugame Seimen, under Toridoll Holdings, will cut prices on flagship menu items like “kake udon” by up to 11% starting November 25. It’s the first time a major restaurant chain has cut prices on its core products, and the move is seen as a preemptive bid to keep in-store customers from drifting to supermarkets once Japan’s expected food consumption-tax cut (from 8% to 1%) kicks in around April 2027. Since dine-in meals at restaurants will stay taxed at the full 10%, the price gap with retail food is set to widen after the cut. On 5ch, the thread lit up with skepticism that “customers won’t come back unless prices drop below ¥700,” comparisons with rival chains that keep raising prices instead, and a running battle of misunderstandings over how wholesale pricing and consumption-tax deductions actually work.
Marugame Seimen, a subsidiary of Toridoll Holdings (HD), will cut prices on core menu items such as “kake udon” by up to 11% starting on the 25th. It’s the first price cut ever on the chain’s flagship products. With an eye on the food consumption-tax cut expected to take effect in April 2027, which could push demand toward supermarkets, the company is moving early to hold onto its in-store customers.
Under the tax cut, the consumption tax rate on food will fall from 8% to 1%, while dine-in meals stay taxed at 10%, making eating out comparatively pricier. With ingredient and labor costs climbing, store operations…(continues in the paid edition, 1,408 characters remaining)
Nikkei, November 12, 2026, 5:00 AM
Source: nikkei.com / Original article here
What people said
Yeah, that's exactly the crux of it.
Going forward, companies that can't cope by raising prices will sadly get weeded out. I think the second-gen boss has the right idea.
Same story around here — everyone migrated over to the nearby Shisan Udon (a rival chain), and it's been a ghost town ever since.
The deduction shrinks, so whatever profit's left just gets eaten up by taxes.
Do you know what happens when suppliers use the tax cut as an excuse to jack up their own prices?
If the consumption tax isn't needed, cut it across the board, not just for restaurants.
That doesn't make any sense. They could just scale the business down instead.
Exactly — that's the sound thinking of a citizen living under one of the most heavily taxed systems in the world.
Some people, despite living in such a heavily taxed country, oppose the tax cut because it'll hurt the restaurant industry — I really have to wonder what's going on in their heads.
If you feel that bad for restaurants, the consistent position would be "cut their tax to 1% too."
I get the logic behind how it ended up this way.
It's probably the result of industry insiders like Re: #107 wanting to prop up the restaurant sector so they can bring in Southeast Asian workers.
That also lines up with this weird "2-year-only" talk —
they're probably planning to get the foreign worker system fully in place by then.
Even frozen or dried noodles taste great. It's cheap and quick, so why wouldn't you just make it yourself? (´・ω・｀)
Frozen noodles really are good.
Calling yourself a 'pro' when you're just home all day, lol.
Makes you wonder just how much they're ripping people off.
https://livedoor.blogimg.jp/toushichannel/imgs/3/f/3f4850e3.jpg
Udon and pasta are probably much the same story.
Frozen food these days is cheaper and tastes better — only idiots or the seriously rich still bother eating out.
Same old dumb copypasta.
If you trace "the cost behind the cost" back far enough, everything ends up being free, lol.
Price is basically all labor. Buying at "cost" only gets you the raw ingredients — would you be satisfied walking into a ramen shop and just being handed raw ingredients?
You're paying for the labor of the person cooking it, serving it, and providing the space.
This one's way too old too — somebody update it already.
This is exactly why small-town delinquents open ramen shops.
If you can make it at home, you're better off doing that.
Background and Key Points of the Discussion
Marugame Seimen’s price cut is a move made with an eye toward Japan’s food consumption-tax cut (from 8% to 1%) expected in April 2027. Under the system, food sold at places like supermarkets would get the tax cut, while dine-in restaurant meals stay taxed at 10%, widening the price gap and potentially pushing customers toward supermarkets. This marks the first time a major chain has cut prices on its core menu, and without knowing this “restaurants alone keep the higher tax rate” structure, it’s hard to see why the price cut is happening now. In the thread, comments like “wholesale prices should drop by exactly the amount of the tax cut” drew pushback pointing out how the deduction system actually works and the risk of suppliers using the tax cut as cover to raise their own prices — underscoring that a consumption-tax cut doesn’t automatically translate into lower prices from companies. Opinions on the size of the cut itself were split too: some argued customers won’t return unless prices break the psychological ¥700 barrier, while others called it reasonable compared to rivals’ trend of raising prices instead.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (News Flash+) thread “Marugame Seimen Cuts Prices 10%, First Major Chain to Respond to Consumption Tax Cut — Restaurant Chains Move to Stem Customer Exodus.”
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