Key facts
- Yamaya Communications plans to expand its restaurant business by 60% to 100 locations by 2030.
- The company is targeting India as a significant market for its international expansion.
- Currently, manufacturing dominates Japanese corporate presence in India.
- Yamaya Sohonten Zen in Fukuoka is now offering Japanese-style breakfast.
Japanese food company Yamaya Communications is planning a significant expansion of its restaurant business, aiming to increase its number of eateries by 60% to 100 locations by 2030. The company is specifically eyeing India as a key market for this growth, in addition to expanding its domestic presence. Yamaya Sohonten Zen in Fukuoka has recently started offering Japanese-style breakfast.
Experts suggest that Japanese companies are increasingly looking towards India for business expansion beyond the manufacturing sector, which currently dominates their presence in the country. As of October 2024, there were 1,434 Japanese companies operating in India, a figure that has remained relatively flat since 2018. This contrasts with other Asian economies like Thailand, Singapore, and Vietnam, which host larger numbers of Japanese firms and have seen a more diversified industrial structure over time, moving beyond initial manufacturing focus into services and retail.
Japanese direct investment in India totaled approximately 5.8 trillion yen as of 2024, with manufacturing, particularly in transportation equipment, accounting for the largest share. Analysts believe that India could follow a similar development trajectory to Thailand, where Japanese business activities have gradually diversified, indicating potential for growth in non-manufacturing sectors for Japanese firms in India.