First Saizeriya in Japan Will Be Scrapped, Thanks to Developers

Saizeriya
Saizeriya, Japan's famous Italian-esque restaurant chain, is losing its first-ever store in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture.

Want more UJ? Get our FREE newsletter 

Need a preview? See our archives

All good things must come to an end. And that includes Japan’s first-ever Saizeriya location. While the location has been kept running as a museum, plans for new development have doomed it to obsoletion.

If you don’t know Saizeriya, I strongly suggest trying it at least once while visiting or living in Japan. Some people won’t touch the chain with a 10-foot pole. For many, however, the faux Italian restaurant is a lifesaver.

Saizeriya serves what’s best described as “Italian tapas” or “Italian izakaya.” Most of its small plates sell between 180 yen (USD $1.14) and 400 yen ($2.54). Not to be outdone by Trader Joe’s in the United States, it also offers bargain-basement wine prices: you can get a 120mL glass for 91 yen ($0.58) and a 1500mL bottle for 1,000 yen ($6.33).

Saizeriya's wine menu in English
Saizeriya’s wine menu in English.

The chain has an interesting history, starting as a “Western food” (yoshoku) restaurant in 1967 until that burned down. It re-opened as an Italian food – or, at least, the Japanese interpretation of Italian food – joint in 1973 with its new first location in Ichikawa City, Chiba Prefecture, near Motoyawata Station. Saizeriya now has over 1,500 stores – 1,069 in Japan, 474 abroad.

Saizeriya closed the location in Chiba in 2000. However, Saezeriya head Masagaki Yasuhiro was dedicated to keeping it open in some form. So the chain kept it open as an educational museum, making zero changes except installing a Washlet toilet. (I mean, who can blame them?)

However, the location is now slated to disappear in 2027 as developers want to tear down the area and build something new. A post about the closure on X was liked over 56K times and generated a slew of comments from people who’re sad to see this piece of history fade away.

A bot account for Motoyawata shares photos of the inside of the first Saizeriya. (Source: X)

Oyama Tatsuo, who heads the preservation committee for the first store, says there are calls to replace it with another educational museum but no concrete plans. In the meantime, he encourages people to visit while they still can.

Location: 2 Chome-6-5 Yawata, Ichikawa, Chiba 272-0021

Support independent media

UJ depends on the support of our readers to keep our content 100% free for everyone. Help us in our mission to create content about the Japan you don’t learn about in anime with a recurring or one-time donation to the UJ Journalism Fund.

What to read next

Want more UJ? Get our FREE newsletter 

Need a preview? See our archives

Japan in Translation

Subscribe to our free newsletter for a weekly digest of our best work across platforms (Web, Twitter, YouTube). Your support helps us spread the word about the Japan you don’t learn about in anime.

Want a preview? Read our archives

You’ll get one to two emails from us weekly. For more details, see our privacy policy