Bento Take-Out Chain Hokka-Hokka Tei in Japan to Lower Price of Large Rice Portion by ¥20

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:33 JST, June 26, 2025

The operator of bento take-out chain Hokka-Hokka Tei has announced that it would reduce the additional charge for a large portion of rice in its bento boxes by ¥20 to ¥70 including tax at most of its shops from Thursday.

Hokka-Hokka Tei Souhombu Corp., based in Osaka, said it lowered the cost of rice by purchasing government stockpiled rice from a rice wholesaler and blending it with newly harvested rice. The amount of a large serving of rice is about 1.4 times the normal serving.

The company plans to continue using the stockpiled rice until early autumn, when the new rice harvest of the year will be available.

“With the prices of various items soaring, we want to lower prices where we can,” a company official said.