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city-state as a base for expansion into other markets in Southeast Asia and
Oceania. The move apparently has been prompted by an expected sales drop in
Japan due to the falling birthrate and aging society. A lot depends on the
extent to which Japan's "taste"--exemplified by izakaya pubs, ramen shops
and Japanese-Italian restaurants--can attract middle-class customers in
other Asian countries. At a shopping mall on Orchard Road, Singapore's
commercial heart, a long line lasts throughout the day at Watami's first
outlet in the nation, which opened July 21. Watami Food Service Singapore
Pte Ltd, the local operator of the Japanese-style pub chain, estimates that
the average daytime customer spends S$15 ( about 990 yen), and the average
nighttime customer spends S$25. In Singapore, S$5 is enough to buy lunch at
its hawker centre open-air food courts. Compared to this, Watami is not
exactly cheap, but the chain's business is thriving in the country. "Even at
3 and 4 in the afternoon, more than half the tables are full," the company's
president, Satoshi Kurihara, said. Since late last year, other Japanese
restaurant chains also have opened their first outlets in Singapore,
including the izakaya chain Tsubohachi, Italian-themed Saizeriya, the
octopus dumpling shop Tsukiji Gindako and the Japanese eatery Ootoya.
