[Japan] Salarymen choose budget lunches amid rising food prices

Cash-strapped office workers in Tokyo are doing their best to spend as little as ¥500 (£2.60) a day on lunch without eating the same modest meal every day as the impact of increased food costs continues to bite, The Guardian reports.

Japan has been spared the worst of the soaring inflation rates hurting other leading economies. But it is being forced to acclimatise to rising prices as a result of the war in Ukraine, supply chain issues and the lingering effects of the pandemic meaning households have still had to tighten their belts.

That belt-tightening reportedly presents a challenge for the capital’s sarariman - male office workers who tend to take lunch near their workplaces - preserving the bulk of their monthly allowance for mandatory post-work drinks with colleagues.

In 2021, the soaring price of imported beef forced the gyudon beef bowl fast food chain Yoshinoya to raise the price of its regular-sized dish - a former salaryman staple - for the first time in seven years. But even at today’s higher prices, the dish can be theirs for just ¥468.

Frugality is increasingly topping the lunchtime menu of salaried workers. A 2023 survey by Tokyo-based social lending service Lendex, revealed that nearly half of salarymen from their 20s through to their 50s said they spent less than ¥500 a day on lunch. 

The respondents included those who brought bento from home but 22.6 per cent were opting for a “one-coin lunch” to see them through the day.

Another survey from the Japanese arm of payment service provider Edenred found that about 40 per cent of male and female office workers had curbed their lunch expenses. And almost 70 per cent said they had gone without their favourite dishes to save money.

Source: The Guardian

(Link via original reporting)

Cash-strapped office workers in Tokyo are doing their best to spend as little as ¥500 (£2.60) a day on lunch without eating the same modest meal every day as the impact of increased food costs continues to bite, The Guardian reports.

Japan has been spared the worst of the soaring inflation rates hurting other leading economies. But it is being forced to acclimatise to rising prices as a result of the war in Ukraine, supply chain issues and the lingering effects of the pandemic meaning households have still had to tighten their belts.

That belt-tightening reportedly presents a challenge for the capital’s sarariman - male office workers who tend to take lunch near their workplaces - preserving the bulk of their monthly allowance for mandatory post-work drinks with colleagues.

In 2021, the soaring price of imported beef forced the gyudon beef bowl fast food chain Yoshinoya to raise the price of its regular-sized dish - a former salaryman staple - for the first time in seven years. But even at today’s higher prices, the dish can be theirs for just ¥468.

Frugality is increasingly topping the lunchtime menu of salaried workers. A 2023 survey by Tokyo-based social lending service Lendex, revealed that nearly half of salarymen from their 20s through to their 50s said they spent less than ¥500 a day on lunch. 

The respondents included those who brought bento from home but 22.6 per cent were opting for a “one-coin lunch” to see them through the day.

Another survey from the Japanese arm of payment service provider Edenred found that about 40 per cent of male and female office workers had curbed their lunch expenses. And almost 70 per cent said they had gone without their favourite dishes to save money.

Source: The Guardian

(Link via original reporting)