Japan Travelogue Series: Saizeriya

Saizeriya (サイゼリヤ) is a Japanese chain of family-style Italian yōshoku (洋食, western food). Saizeriya is also known as “Saize” (サイゼ). The restaurant is managed by Saizeriya Co. headquartered in Yoshikawa, Saitama.

As the story goes, the current president of Saizeriya, Yasuhiko Shōgaki worked at a Western restaurant of the same name, in Ichikawa, Chiba. Shōgaki was then a student at Tokyo University of Science. The manager at the time saw promise in the hard-working young man. When Shōgaki became a senior at the university, he was made manager of the restaurant.

Italian cuisine becoming more popular in Japan, prompted Shōgaki to focus the menu of Saizeriya on Italian food. However, this decision proved to put off customers. In an attempt to lure back patrons, Shōgaki thought of an ingenious way to win them back. Food prices on the menu were cut by 70%! The plan proved to work so well that customers lined up waiting for a table began to appear, enabling Shōgaki to open a second restaurant.

In 1973, Shōgaki established a joint stock company called Maria-nu (マリアーヌ) in Ichikawa. The company then began the lengthy expansion of the restaurant chain. In 1987, the company changed its name to Maria-no (マリアーノ) and finally to Saizeriya in 1992. Today, Saizeriya is known to serve affordable and delicious Italian food and has over 750 stores.