Ramen inflation concerns Japanese as election nears

STORY: As a record number of ramen shops close in Japan, one owner, Taisei Hikage, has been fighting a losing battle.

He’s striving to keep the prices low while ingredients and fuel costs continue to rise incessantly.

But since the restaurant opened a year and a half ago, he’s been forced to raise menu prices three times.

A staple dish in Japan, these inflated prices emphasize the country’s broader cost of living crunch, something at the forefront of voters’ minds ahead of Sunday’s (October 24) general election.

For Hikage, his top-selling dish is up 47% from its original price.

“Originally, rice was free for our customers, but we can no longer offer it for free since prices of rice doubled. For cooking ramen soup, prices for pork bones depend on the part you want to use but the parts we use quite a lot have risen so we had to increase our ramen prices.”

He hopes the victors of Sunday’s vote will consider introducing subsidies to support ramen shops.

Or will reduce utility costs for restaurants to offset these rising costs.

And it is a possibility; Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, who leads the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, is fanatical about ramen.

And opposition parties have pledged various measures to offset costs of the national comfort food.

These policies could tip an election which polls show may slip from LDP’s grasp.

However, while other shops aren’t faring as well, Hikage’s award-winning ramen still remains in demand.

“It has become very difficult to serve cheap and delicious ramen so we will need to offer ramen that people would want to pay for. I really think it’s a change of era for ramen restaurants.”