Tokyo companies are increasingly introducing affordable employee cafeterias amid soaring dining-out costs. New fiscal-year tax reforms have raised the tax-exempt limit for meal subsidies for the first time in 42 years, providing a tailwind. At Tokyo Star Bank, staff enjoy lunches for around ¥500.
At Tokyo Star Bank's head office in Akasaka, Minato Ward, the employee cafeteria bustled at lunchtime on Wednesday. Options included a ¥530 daily special and fried eggplant with Chinese chili sauce over rice. Introduced in March last year, the "kitchenless cafeteria" serves hot meals delivered from an off-site facility.
Employee Kazuhisa Miyoshi, 43, smiled and said, "Eating out can sometimes cost around ¥1,500, so the cafeteria is a huge help for my household budget." A bank spokesperson noted, "We can offer meals for around ¥500, which helps support our employees financially."
A March Recruit Co. survey of workers in Tokyo metropolitan, Tokai, and Kansai regions found weekday lunch budgets for eating out hit a record ¥1,338, up ¥88 from the previous year. Bondish, the bank's cafeteria operator in Chiyoda Ward, reported a 40% year-on-year rise in inquiries for kitchenless cafeterias from January to March.
This fiscal year's tax reforms raised the monthly tax-exempt limit for company meal subsidies from ¥3,500 to ¥7,500 per person—the first increase in 42 years—to counter inflation. Subsidies remain tax-free if employees cover at least half the total cost, positioning them as a "third form of wage increase." Services like Ezaki Glico's "Sunao Delivery," newly expanded to Tokyo, and Edenred Japan's "Ticket Restaurant" card have seen surging inquiries.