Thank you for being an Ichibanya chain restaurant customer. Since being founded thirty years ago, we have continued to grow under the motto "Briskly, Sharply, and with a Smile." In order to satisfy each and every customer who visits our restaurants, we have compiled efforts to heighten "Ichibanya quality" without making compromises in either "soft" or "hard" aspects, including our wide assortment of toppings, speed of service, and thorough cleanliness of our restaurants.

Recently, however, the external environment surrounding the restaurant industry has become increasingly severe in various ways. In the short term, there is particular concern that a substantial increase in general operating costs will occur, including the cost of food ingredients and other raw materials, labor costs, and restaurant equipment, material and facilities costs. We are, of course, making unprecedented efforts to streamline and improve the efficiency of our operations, but we must not overly react and fall into the belief of "shrink thinking."

Rather, under a basic policy of overcoming rising costs by vigorously expanding sales, we will promote a strategy that places emphasis on increasing the sales of our existing restaurants even more than on opening up new restaurants. With the aim of continuing to grow as a company by enabling our restaurants, FC owners, and employees to display even greater vitality and raise their level of performance, we established "Improving 'Individual' Vitality" as the theme of our third intermediate-range business plan (June 2008 to May 2011).
While striving to be a "sincere, vital restaurant business," we hope to continue to have a readiness to accept new challenges with positive determination. We plan to work hard each day, based on our philosophy of contributing to the development of the regional society, and without forgetting to be grateful. We therefore ask for your continued support.