In Japan, workers rely on healthy lunch bowls for under $4. Japanese media literally tracks these prices because they're a daily staple for working people. The Japanese media reported on a surge in their price from $2.63 to $4.25 in 2021.
In America, we track grocery prices. Restaurants are luxury goods.
The U.S. lacks this budget restaurant tier! There's obviously demand for it. We'd buy $4 balanced meals if we had the option.
How does Japan’s restaurant market do this?
It’s not grocery prices; Japan’s grocery prices are ~18% higher than the United States.
It’s not hourly wages. Japan’s minimum wage ($6.68 an hour) is similar to America’s ($7.25).
Japan’s zoning and health codes allow tiny businesses!
Japan allows businesses that are only a few feet wide. Japanese restaurants can operate in small spaces, like one floor of a narrow single-stair case building (no wasted space or resources on a shared lobby).
"Koreatown manhattan 2009" by chensiyuan, CC BY-SA 4.0. Grabbed from Noah Smith.
In Japan, someone can even build a tiny coffeeshop in front of their home.
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