November 5, 2025

Japanese Restaurant Giants Accelerate Global Expansion

Domestic Growth Hits a Ceiling, Overseas Stores Set to Triple

Zensho Holdings plans to open 3,000 new overseas outlets over the next three years, starting in fiscal 2025, bringing its international restaurants to nearly three times the size of its domestic network. Toridoll Holdings is also stepping up its global push, bringing its flagship udon brand, Marugame Udon, to the Middle East.

With limited room for further store openings and price increases in Japan, major food service companies are increasingly looking overseas for growth. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, the number of Japanese restaurants operating abroad reached approximately 187,000 in 2023, more than triple the level of a decade earlier. Industry leaders view the surge in inbound tourism and the growing global awareness of Japanese cuisine as a significant tailwind.

Zensho expects its overseas restaurant count to exceed 13,000 by the end of March 2028, representing a nearly 30 percent increase from March 2025. In contrast, its domestic outlets are forecast to grow by only 10 percent to about 5,100. Overseas locations are therefore approaching three times the scale of the company’s Japan operations, highlighting the clear strategic shift.

The group is leveraging the store networks and procurement capabilities of takeout sushi chains in the United States and Europe that it has acquired through mergers and acquisitions. Zensho purchased U.S. operator Advanced Fresh Concepts in 2018, followed by multiple acquisitions in the United States and the United Kingdom in 2023, as well as a Germany-based company.

FOOD & LIFE COMPANIES, which operates the Sushiro brand, plans to lift the number of its overseas outlets to between 310 and 320 by the fiscal year ending September 2026, a 70 percent jump from fiscal 2024. The company opened its 50th store in Taiwan in February 2025 and has since expanded into Malaysia.

A Nikkei survey of the food service industry found that 25 percent of companies opened fewer stores in fiscal 2024 than initially planned, mainly because of labor shortages and rising construction costs. As opening new locations in Japan becomes increasingly complex, more than 40 percent of respondents said they intend to actively expand overseas.

M&A Becomes a Key Growth Strategy

The push abroad is also being driven by acquisitions. Colowide, the operator of yakiniku chain Gyu Kaku, acquired Australian steak restaurant operator Seaglass in June. Monogatari Corporation, which runs Yakiniku King, has purchased a U.S. teppanyaki restaurant group for 28.6 million dollars, about 4.1 billion yen.

Sayaka Azuma of Tokyo-based research firm Sakana Japan notes that building a brand overseas from scratch is rarely easy for Japanese companies. She explains that mergers and acquisitions enable firms to scale up quickly while tailoring their operations to local market needs.