Can you imagine traveling back to the Meiji era, and among the carriages and machiya townhouses you spot Yoshinoya?
It’s one of the biggest fast food chains in Japan, renowned for its gyudon beef bowls and lightning-fast service. It’s a dependable comfort spot you can rely on for consistency and affordable prices, even in the wee hours. And for that, it has won the hearts of visiting tourists and locals alike.
Named after founder Eikichi Matsuda’s hometown — Yoshino in Osaka Prefecture — the kanji for yoshi (luck), no (field) and ya (house) come together for this iconic brand. There are, as of this March, 1,259 domestic Yoshinoya locations and 989 international restaurants in 10 countries.
Though Yoshinoya is known for its signature onion-rich thinly-sliced beef bowls, its menu has considerably expanded over the years to offer Japanese-style curry, salad dishes, karaage (fried chicken), butadon (pork), sukiyaki (hot pot) and even unadon (grilled eel) among other seasonal favorites.
This year, Yoshinoya — colloquially nicknamed yoshigyu — is celebrating its 126th anniversary.
Inside Yoshinoya’s Tsukiji restaurant in 1959.
126 Years of Yoshigyu
Yoshinoya was founded in 1899, in Tokyo’s Nihonbashi neighborhood, where a small family-run gyudon shop opened to service workers in the fishing industry. They were usually too busy to properly sit down at a restaurant but were still craving a hot and satisfying meal. The Meiji era recipe looked quite different from its modern counterpart, adding bamboo shoots, konnyaku noodles and grilled tofu to the simmering meat.
At Yoshinoya, fishermen could sit at a bar-like counter, place their order and swiftly receive their bowls, which could easily be scarfed down even between a busy schedule. This business model persists even today, with Yoshinoya’s system providing a go-to choice for busy office workers and students between breaks.
Following the Great Kanto earthquake of 1923, which destroyed the original shop, Yoshinoya relocated along with the severely damaged fish market from Nihonbashi to Tsukiji. The new Shin-Ohashi street shop opened in 1926 to the enthusiastic relief of the fishermen. Continuing to honor the shop’s origins, Yoshinoya Holding’s headquarters still sits in Nihonbashi, along the banks of the Sumida River.
Expansion of the Beef Bowl Empire
The restaurant burned down once again due to the Great Tokyo Air Raid in 1945. But even through war and a food shortage, Yoshinoya persisted with the mission to “provide energy to those involved in the reconstruction of the market.”
The founder’s son, Mizuho Matsuda, took over management in 1947. In 1952, the store attempted 24-hour operations, the first restaurant of its kind in Japan. It adopted the slogan, “Fast, Delicious, Cheap” to represent its core values.
In 1968, the second Yoshinoya store opened in Shimbashi, followed by a Kanda location a year later. Today, Yoshinoya is present in all 47 prefectures of Japan. Yoshinoya Holdings is also the parent company of Hanamaru Udon, another popular quick-service chain that serves sanuki-style udon and tempura.
The first American Yoshinoya location opened in Denver, Colorado in 1975.
In 1975, Yoshigyu finally went overseas, opening its first international restaurant in Denver, Colorado, under the name “Beef Bowl.” The US Yoshinoya menu looks quite different from its Japanese counterpart, with products localized for the American market, such as teriyaki chicken, barbecue meatballs, grilled tilapia and habanero chicken.
However, the gyudon empire almost toppled. Due to rapid expansion, customers noticed declining quality and in 1980 Yoshinoya filed for bankruptcy. The company realized it needed to make a complete change to win back the trust of its customers. It decided to close down unprofitable stores, get rid of freeze-dried meat and go through a thorough reconstruction in management and cooking.
Yoshinoya has since embedded itself as an icon of Japanese fast food and even collaborated with pop culture giants such as Pokémon, Kirby and Jujutsu Kaisen.
