Warlords in Conflict! Mapping the World of Onigiri Specialty Shops with a 4-Quadrant Matrix

《1825th consecutive day!》

It has been exactly five years since I started traveling around Japan eating onigiri and writing food reports about them on note.

That amounts to over 1,300 articles.

Since I also write information and summary articles related to onigiri, that means I have written over 1,700 articles in total.

I might even be the number one person in Japan in terms of the amount of onigiri information I have published.

Actually, considering that onigiri is a food unique to Japan, I might be the number one in the world!



The reason I started these onigiri reports was that I loved onigiri so much, yet I could find almost no information about them in the world other than convenience store onigiri.

It was also driven by the desire that the reports I write might be of some use to Japanese food culture.

Five years ago, when I started these reports,
it was said that there were about 800 onigiri specialty shops in Japan, making them a minor presence compared to popular gourmet shops like ramen, curry, or bread, numbering only a fraction of them.

However, in the last year or two, that situation has changed significantly.

Onigiri specialty shops are opening one after another, mainly in urban areas.
Also, onigiri specialty shops have started to be featured in magazines and television programs.

So, why has this onigiri specialty shop boom arrived?

I have worked in the sales promotion field for a long time and hold qualifications as a sales specialist and promotional marketer.
Using the experience I have cultivated as a 'sales professional' so far,
I have thought about the reasons for this onigiri specialty shop boom.

👉 Reasons for the increase in onigiri specialty shops

❶ Stability of rice prices

Amidst rising prices for food in general (especially for wheat-based products like bread and noodles), the price of rice remains stable.
Furthermore, ingredients like fillings and seaweed are less reliant on imports, making them less susceptible to the impact of a weak yen and allowing them to be offered at lower prices than other products.

❷ Price increases for convenience store onigiri

Due to the rising prices of convenience store onigiri (what used to be in the low 100-yen range a few years ago is now in the high 100s to 200-yen range), consumers' price perception regarding onigiri is increasing.
Relatively speaking, the image of onigiri specialty shops being expensive is also fading.

❸ Does not require special skills

Compared to other cuisines (such as French, Japanese, bread, or ramen), it does not require special culinary skills that take years to master.
Also, Japanese brand rice is consistently delicious, and with the improvement in rice cooker performance, anyone can now cook the rice that serves as the base for onigiri to a high standard.

❹ Does not require special equipment for opening a store

It does not require special equipment like ovens, kilns, or large refrigerators compared to other types of food businesses.
Additionally, because you can open a shop in small spaces, by renting time in existing kitchens, or using food trucks, it is possible to start a business with minimal costs.

❺ Growing awareness among overseas tourists

With onigiri being featured in guidebooks like Michelin and specialty shops opening in Paris and New York, awareness of onigiri is growing overseas.
As a result, in urban areas and tourist destinations, onigiri is being chosen as a representative Japanese gourmet food, and in some places, it has even started to attract long lines.

👉 Let's map the world of onigiri using a 4-quadrant matrix

Although we group them all as onigiri specialty shops, their store styles and customer bases are incredibly diverse. Furthermore, onigiri have become so popular that they now have dedicated sections not only in specialty shops but also in roadside stations and Japanese confectionery stores.

Therefore, I would like to organize the current situation of onigiri specialty shops and retailers so that it can be understood visually.

To do this, I want to use a framework called a 4-quadrant matrix.

A 4-quadrant matrix is a framework for analyzing things based on four areas created by the intersection of two axes. It is used to identify business growth points or to find solutions to problems and challenges.

Strictly speaking, there seem to be various rules for setting the two axes, but this time I would like to set them in a way that is easy for anyone to understand visually.

Based on that, here is the classification of onigiri specialty shops and retailers by category.
(The categories are divided based on my own subjective view)

Since the way onigiri are handled differs from shop to shop, there are some that don't fit perfectly. I hope you will forgive that, but I was able to fit them into the frame in roughly this form.

👉 "High Price x Inbound/SNS" is Driving the Boom

Categorizing by style alone tends to be subjective. Therefore, to help you visualize it concretely, I will apply actual shops to this framework.

This is how it turned out.

Looking at this, it is clear that what is driving the current rice ball boom is the "High Price x Inbound/SNS" category in the upper right, which includes photogenic styles, the Bongo style, and burger-style rice balls.

This suggests that a new form of rice ball is being recognized, especially among overseas tourists and the younger generation. Many of the new rice ball specialty shops opening recently also fall into this category.

👉 I Also Kept This Matrix in Mind When Speaking on "Matsuko no Shiranai Sekai"

I recently had the opportunity to appear on "Matsuko no Shiranai Sekai" (The World Unknown to Matsuko).

As Japan's number one rice ball enthusiast, I introduced many rice ball shops from all over the country.

The rice balls I introduced on this program were actually discussed with this four-quadrant matrix in mind.

In the program, the rice balls were presented in order from Chapter 1 to Chapter 3.

1. Instagrammable burger-style rice balls
2. Local specialty rice balls
3. Grandma's expert-technique rice balls

If you look at the matrix, you can see an arrow pointing from the top right to the bottom left.

I first introduce the rice balls currently driving the boom, and then convey the charm of rice balls that have been eaten in various regions.
The flow is to finally introduce rice balls that have been loved locally for a long time.

In other words, it means knowing the cutting edge of the times, knowing the history of the past, and knowing the essential splendor of rice balls.

I have been trying to make many people feel this through a single program.

Of course, it's not that any particular lineage of rice ball is superior; each one is delicious and full of charm.

In the first place, rice balls are the oldest part of Japanese food culture, even being unearthed from Yayoi period ruins, and are a 'Japanese soul food' that has been loved by many people from commoners to aristocrats.

That is precisely why it should not become a passing fad.

Conveying this wonderful world of rice balls.
I would like to continue doing this more and more.

I have written about the behind-the-scenes stories of my program appearances and the reason why I started the 1000-day rice ball report here. Please feel free to read it if you'd like.