KYOTO--Sushi restaurants that have flourished overseas are opening branches in Japan’s ancient capital here in rapid succession, to lure in the growing number of hungry inbound tourists.  

In September, sushi bar Kyoto-Senryo opened near JR Kyoto Station’s Hachijo Exit.

The restaurant is operated by Tokyo-based Genki Global Dining Concepts Corp., which was formerly known as Genki Sushi Co., until its name change in August.

Genki Global dropped the word “sushi” from its name because it is diversifying its business to stay afloat in the competitive market.

Genki Global is renowned for its conveyor-belt seafood restaurant, Genki Sushi, as well as the Uobei sushi chain that uses a touch-panel ordering system to deliver dishes directly to customers, instead of letting them pick up dishes served on rotating conveyor belts. 

The company opened a directly managed Genki Sushi restaurant in Hawaii in 1993, becoming one of the first sushi restaurant chains to do business outside Japan.

Between that time and last September, Genki Global has opened 242 directly managed and franchised locations abroad, far exceeding its 185 outlets in Japan.

CATERING TO FOREIGN TOURISTS

Among all Genki Global’s brands, Senryo is particularly marketed as “authentic” sushi, and each piece of sushi is carefully crafted by chefs.

The Senryo brand has 24 restaurants overseas in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Manila, Singapore and elsewhere, which are all said to be popular despite their relatively high prices.

The newly opened Kyoto-Senryo restaurant further refined its image as a luxury fish restaurant chain making waves abroad to be successfully “reimported” to sushi’s home country.

The restaurant’s target demographic is overseas travelers in Kyoto. However, Kyoto-Senryo also hopes to attract Japanese customers who want to wine and dine foreign officials from their client businesses.

In addition to sushi, Kyoto-Senryo serves “hassun” appetizers, sashimi, steamed meals, grilled dishes and other specialties, each carefully selected in “omakase” style as recommended by the chefs.

For its sushi, Kyoto-Senryo mainly uses seafood preferred by non-Japanese patrons, such as salmon and tuna.

The course meal featuring Japanese beef sukiyaki is priced at 20,000 yen ($133).

Kyoto-Senryo is designed with a traditional Japanese aesthetic. A small garden sits on the restaurant’s grounds, while tables are separated with “misu” traditional screens.

Mitsunori Azuma, president of Genki Global, expressed his high expectations for the new outlet.

“We hope to spread the tastiness and attraction of Japanese cuisine, which is not limited to sushi, to the rest of the world,” Azuma said.

“We want to take advantage of the rapidly growing demand from inbound tourists to give our customers the valuable experience of exploring Japanese culture through cuisine,” he said.

EDO-STYLE SUSHI ON THE RISE

Sushi Azabu Higashiyama, a sushi restaurant from New York City, opened in September near the Yasaka Pagoda, a noted tourist destination packed with foreign visitors in Kyoto’s Higashiyama Ward.

The Sushi Azabu in New York has won a star in the Michelin Guide for fine dining in North America.

The restaurant chain is operated by Plan Do See Inc., headquartered in Tokyo, which runs hotels and restaurants in major cities both nationally and internationally.

The new Kyoto restaurant is the second of the Azabu sushi restaurant chain to open in Japan, after one in Tokyo.

Sushi Azabu Higashiyama opened in the Sodoh Higashiyama Kyoto commercial complex, which was remodeled from the former private Higashiyama Sodo residence of the Japanese painter Takeuchi Seiho (1864-1942).

The new restaurant offers Edo (today’s Tokyo)-style sushi, despite being located in Kyoto, western Japan, since that cuisine is remarkably popular among foreigners.

For now, Sushi Azabu Higashiyama only offers a lunch course for 4,800 yen and a dinner course for 9,800 yen.

Koji Oyamada, the manager of Sushi Azabu Higashiyama, explained, “Pricy establishments are thriving alongside inexpensive conveyor-belt sushi restaurant chains, in what is called a sushi bubble economy.”

“Aiming for the middle tier in this increasingly polarized sushi market, we intend to create an atmosphere where patrons can enjoy our service in a casual setting,” said Oyamada.

Oyamada added that another goal is to “generate demand among local residents as well as inbound visitors.”

Harnessing his expertise on the restaurant industry in the ancient capital, Yasuhiro Nishimura, who manages the restaurant consulting firm Doco-Ico Inc. in Kyoto, explained how Edo-style sushi has gained popularity there.

“For a long time boxed sushi, pressed sushi, treated mackerel sushi and other dishes made with compressed rice were the mainstream of Kyoto’s sushi culture,” said Nishimura.

“More restaurants started offering Edo-style sushi as advances in logistics rendered fresh fish more accessible. Their number has risen explosively in tandem with the expansion in inbound demand,” Nishimura explained.