Price guide
How These Reference Ranges Are Made
Updated June 2026
An honest look at where the numbers come from, what they mean, and where they stop.
What a reference range is
A reference range is a human-curated "what it usually costs", drawn from official menus and reliable sources — not a mechanical average. Toppings and premium outliers are left out on purpose. All prices are tax-included yen for a casual single portion.
The sources we use
In priority order: official chain menus first, then business press reporting price changes, then aggregated price context. Every dish carries its latest observation date.
How we treat chain prices
Dishes dominated by nationwide chains (gyudon, katsudon) anchor strongly, because the price is near-identical across Japan. The "observed official menu prices" on each page are specific listed prices — examples, not an average.
How we treat regional differences
We do not rank cities by price. Where confidence is high enough, we show a regional tendency, gently — never a league table.
How we handle currency
Japanese yen is the canonical price. A reference "≈ $X" is added for convenience at the 2026-06-01 reference rate — not a live exchange rate.
Our update policy
Each dish carries an observation date and is refreshed when the market moves. We never make an old number look new.
Not a store rating
This is a price reference, not a judgment of any shop, not a recommendation, and not financial advice.
Why we don’t show sample counts
Dressing a few observations up as "an N-item study" makes data look more certain than it is. So we skip counts and show our honesty through sources, dates and confidence instead.
Why we hold back uncertain dishes
We publish a dish only when it has a range, an observation date, a traceable source and real context. Where the data is thin, we hold off rather than overstate.