TOKYO: Restaurant sales in Japan in March climbed 11.2 pct from a year earlier, reflecting robust tourism demand, including from foreign tourists, on the back of the yen’s weakening and the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen bullet train line, industry data showed Thursday.

The March figure was even up 13.5 pct from the same month in 2019, before the spread of COVID-19, according to the Japan Food Service Association.

Restaurant sales were also boosted by demand for welcome and farewell parties, which were held without pandemic-related restrictions for the first time in five years.

Sales at fast-food restaurants rose 10.7 pct. Dinner restaurant sales increased 11.6 pct, thanks to higher demand from foreign visitors and higher spending per customer.

Family restaurants enjoyed a sales increase of 13.0 pct, reflecting more Saturdays and Sundays in the month than a year earlier.

Meanwhile, sales at pubs and “izakaya” Japanese-style bars were up 6.2 pct from a year before, thanks to rising demand for drinking parties, but down 30.2 pct from March 2019.

JIJI Press