Torikizoku's one flat price for every item took it from near-bankruptcy to 600 stores

In 1985 Tadashi Ōkura, 25, opened his first Torikizoku yakitori shop in a cheap corner of Higashiosaka. Year one was a struggle: after friends and family stopped coming, the store fell into the red and bankruptcy crossed his mind.

His answer was a price structure borrowed from a robatayaki bar he had loved: make every item cost the same. Over the objections of his future deputy, he switched from bottle beer to draft beer and priced everything at ¥280 — two big skewers, sides, draft beer and whiskey. Guests reacted with surprise and delight: 'everything's the same price?'

The uniform price was backed by operational discipline: a deliberately short menu (cut back from 95 items), no appetizer fee, no central kitchen, and chicken skewered in each store so it stayed fresh. Franchises were opened only to alumni, keeping control of the promise.

Make one flat price the product itself

One price removes ordering anxiety and gives customers a game: find the best-value item.

A short menu and no central kitchen keep cost and quality predictable at scale.

Company-run stores (franchise only for ex-staff) keep the flat-price promise intact.

The price itself became the brand, so marketing spend stayed near zero.

Radical simplification can itself be the brand: one price for everything removes the customer's decision anxiety and your operational complexity — provided quality actually backs the promise.

Torikizoku listed on JASDAQ in 2014 and moved to the Tokyo Stock Exchange first section in 2016 with more than 500 stores. The price rose in steps — ¥280 to ¥360 in 2023 and ¥370 in 2024 — and the chain passed 600 stores within 40 years, later agreeing a capital and business alliance with rival yakitori chain Daikichi.