Hundreds of Japanese eateries in Thailand close

Japanese food is popular throughout Asia.
Thailand boasts a high concentration of Japanese restaurants, but many establishments were forced to close this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

JETRO, a government-related organization that supports Japanese companies operating overseas, conducted a survey of Japanese restaurants in Thailand.
It found that 726 had closed this year, a 90 percent jump over last year’s survey and the highest number since 2007.

JETRO Bangkok President Taketani Atsushi said, “We can say that the reason for the closures was that the pandemic made competition among restaurants fiercer. Some Japanese restaurants even switched to offering different styles of food.”

The closures come as the Thai economy, which is highly dependent on tourism, continues to suffer from the…