New Onigiri Shops Take Shape in Saitama City; Deluxe Fillings and Large Sizes on Offer

By Akane Tachihara / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

12:30 JST, August 11, 2024

SAITAMA — Specialist onigiri rice ball shops are opening more and more in Saitama City. They offer a wide variety of onigiri, from large ones weighing 200 grams each to ones prepared with high-grade ingredients.

The move comes as such stores can be opened at relatively low initial costs. Onigiri’s high popularity among Saitama residents is also believed to have contributed to the emergence of the new shops.

Fist-sized onigiri

More than 30 kinds of onigiri are available at the Minami-Urawa branch of Mr. Omusubi, an omusubi (onigiri) store that opened in Minami Ward, Saitama, in April. The rice balls are as large as an adult’s fist and contain deluxe fillings. The onigiri with cheese and meat and those made with premium kakuni braised pork are priced at ¥650 each.

“It’s delicious and has plenty of filling. It also looks very impressive,” said a 46-year-old woman from Toda, Saitama Prefecture, who was enjoying onigiri inside the shop.

Store manager Ayumi Fukuda, 23, said, “Though we make onigiri to be Instagram-worthy, we have more elderly customers than we expected.”

The operator of Mr. Omusubi stores, Freemans Inc., said the decision to open onigiri stores came as running them does not require much equipment beyond rice cookers. The company also pointed to the stability of rice prices.

In November last year, the company opened its main Omiya store in Omiya Ward, Saitama. Freemans plans to open another shop in Takamatsu – the capital city of Kagawa Prefecture – while continuing to manage the two Saitama locations.

“We want to accelerate the opening of stores outside of the prefecture,” Freemans President Ippei Nishikawa, 51, said.

Old-fashioned technique 

Hagama-daki Onigiri Manmai opened by the east exit of JR Omiya Station in March and offers 30 kinds of onigiri made with rice polished in-store and cooked till fluffy in an old-fashioned hagama rice cooker. A hagama is a round-bottomed pot with a flange that helps it fit snugly into the opening on top of an earthen kamado stove.

Fillings include sujiko (salmon roe enclosed in its membrane) priced at ¥610, and egg yolk and minced meat at ¥430.

As well as ordering takeout, the onigiri can be eaten in the restaurant along with other items such as miso soup with pork and vegetables.

In May, another onigiri store, Tezukuri Omusubi Fuji, opened near the west exit of the station, with a monthly rotating menu featuring local delicacies from 47 prefectures.

The onigiri sold under the Tabisuru Omusubi (traveling omusubi) series in June were filled with oysters from Hiroshima Prefecture pickled in oil.

Onigiri capital city

According to a survey by the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry, Saitama topped prefectural capitals in terms of average spending on onigiri and other cooked rice items. Households of two or more people spent ¥8,255 in 2023, significantly higher than the national ¥5,909 average. The affection Saitama residents have for onigiri may be one of the reasons for the increase in stores.

“The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in more takeout, and that may have made people want to enjoy expensive onigiri. Onigiri is in demand whether for breakfast, lunch or dinner,” said Yusuke Nakamura, 49, representative director of the Onigiri Society, a general incorporated association in Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, that supports the opening of onigiri stores.