As Sushiro re-enters the US, it joins a crowded market where sushi trade has grown more mature in recent years
[TOKYO] When Japanese conveyor-belt sushi giant Sushiro opens its flagship US outlet near Times Square this October, it will join a market saturated with the raw fish staple.
From high-end, Michelin-starred counters to supermarket California rolls and baseball stadium push-pops, sushi has become almost as American as hot dogs.
About 45 per cent of Americans say they like or love sushi, according to a recent National Seafood Association report.
Sushiro is betting, however, that the US appetite for raw fish is big enough to accommodate the casual, mass-market model that made the chain a giant in Japan.
“There is high-priced sushi, and then there is reasonably priced sushi centred around takeout. Our sense is that there is a large market in between,” Masahiro Yamamoto, chief executive officer of Sushiro parent Food & Life Companies, said in an interview at its headquarters in Osaka.
The company first tried to crack the US market in 2015, but pulled out a year later amid mixed reviews and later shifted its corporate focus towards Asian markets.
Now, with hundreds of restaurants in the Asia-Pacific region, it is ready to try again – this time starting with a three-story, 9,000 sq ft showcase eatery worthy of its perch at the 42nd Street intersection.
The restaurant will pair digital ordering screens with fast lanes delivering made-to-order sushi, while private rooms downstairs will offer a more elevated dining experience, standing apart from the more standardised format of its stores in Japan.
That is a big contrast to its former no-frills eatery, called Sushiro Seasonal Kitchen, which featured takeout sushi and other Japanese fare.
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The re-entry comes as the US sushi trade has grown more mature over the past decade.
The market is now worth about US$22 billion, with sushi appearing on roughly one of every 14 restaurant menus nationwide, the seafood association’s Sushi Council said in a report published earlier in 2026.
Sushiro’s biggest rival, Kura Sushi, entered the US more than 15 years ago and has slowly built up a network of 96 conveyor-belt restaurants across 24 states and the District of Columbia through publicly traded Kura Sushi USA.
It lists more than 10 additional stores in the pipeline, including in landlocked states like Idaho, Iowa and Kansas.
Normalising ‘deli sushi’
While demand for raw prepared fish is growing by an estimated 6 per cent annually, most of that is happening outside of dedicated sushi restaurants as more non-Japanese food service establishments add it to the menu.
Grocery store sushi is the dish’s fastest-growing channel, with sales increasing consumer awareness and stimulating demand both at home and in restaurants, said Jim Sanderson, an analyst at Northcoast Research.
Zensho Holdings, which operates the Sukiya beef bowl and Hama Sushi chains in Japan, snapped up a trio of American prepared sushi companies for nearly US$900 million since 2018.
The Tokyo-based firm is now the largest US supplier of retail grab-and-go sushi. Major supermarket chains such as Kroger and Safeway, a unit of Albertsons Companies, are among its customers.
Sushiro is not spooked by the normalisation of sushi as part of the American diet; Yamamoto said he sees it as an opportunity for the chain.
The 49-year-old took over as CEO in 2024, inheriting a strategy set in motion that year by his predecessor.
After spending two years studying US consumers at a Japanese-style pub it opened in Boston – called Sakabayashi Sushi Tavern – Food & Life is now ready to make the move with its core brand.
The majority of Sushiro locations are still in Japan, but China has quickly become its second-biggest market by store count.
The chain surpassed 300 international locations in June – up from 227 at the end of September 2025 – as openings accelerated in Greater China and South-east Asia.
Food & Life is targeting 1 trillion yen (US$6.3 billion) in revenue by fiscal 2035, with overseas sales accounting for more than half – up from 31 per cent in fiscal 2025. Sushiro currently accounts for the vast majority of its revenue.
Yamamoto said there is still room for growth in Japan and elsewhere in Asia, but the brand also wants to establish itself in North America.
Still, it is unclear how quickly Sushiro plans to expand in the US.
“In the very long term, of course, we would like the US to become a new foundation,” Yamamoto said, without specifying a store count target or timeline.
No sushi chefs
Kura Sushi, another top casual sushi chain in Japan, has expanded steadily in the US since 2009 – growing along with Americans’ appetite for slabs of amberjack and cucumber rolls.
Starting with a single store in Irvine, California, Kura expects to surpass 100 US locations in 2026 and is aiming for 300 storefronts over the longer term, Hajime Uba, the head of Kura Sushi’s US operations, told Bloomberg in June.
“Competitors will inevitably expand in the US, and we want to secure those markets before they do,” he said, noting several Japanese restaurant chains that started in Manhattan ultimately failed to gain traction nationwide.
In contrast, Yamamoto sees Times Square’s heavy foot traffic as a chance for his company to make a splash in an increasingly crowded US sushi market. “We think there can be a broader ripple effect,” he said.
While primarily known for its cheap eats in Japan, Sushiro will charge more of a premium in the US to help cover higher costs and build tips into its prices.
Most single-serving plates will cost about US$5 to US$6, with some dishes reaching US$10.
That is far above prices in Japan, where some plates can start from as little as 120 yen or US$0.80. It is also above the roughly US$4 average at Kura Sushi’s outlets in the US.
One customer Sushiro will have to win over is Justin Barredo, a 33-year-old nurse in New York who usually buys sushi from a Japanese grocery store for its value.
“That’s expensive”, he said, when told that prices would start at US$5 a plate.
Even so, Sushiro’s prices will remain below those typically charged at upscale sushi bars – which still account for about one third of all US sushi restaurants.
One reason Sushiro can undercut those locations known for omakase, or chef’s choice menus: it does not hire trained sushi chefs who work their way up from apprenticeships. Instead, staff workers are trained to prepare its sushi.
“We want to be properly recognised as casual sushi,” Yamamoto said. BLOOMBERG
Dining and Cooking