[The Rise of Donburi-Style Menus] Dilemmas and Innovations Behind 135% Growth

Lifescape Marketing Inc. (Headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and CEO: Kenji Ueda) has released the results of a survey on the consumption of donburi-style menus, targeting married households with wives aged 22 to 72 in the Tokyo metropolitan area (within a 30km radius) and individuals aged 20 and over belonging to these households.

Over 30% Eat 'Donburi Dinner Once a Week'? A New Evening Meal Habit Spreading Among Younger Households

A "donburi bowl" is a versatile dish, useful for both rice and noodle meals. Currently, "donburi-style menus," eaten from such bowls, are gaining prominence in evening meal scenes. Growth over the past decade has been remarkable: the Evening Meal TI Value (times per 1,000 dinner tables) rose from 97.5 in fiscal 2016 to 131.3 in fiscal 2025, a significant increase of 135% compared to 10 years prior [Figure 1, left side].

Why have donburi-style menus grown so much?

Figure 1.

[Figure 1, right side] shows the monitor distribution by eating frequency per 7 evening meals for donburi-style menus. Households that eat donburi-style menus at least once per 7 evening meals (hereinafter referred to as the 'Weekly Donburi Layer') have expanded from 22% in fiscal 2016 to 38% currently, an increase of +15.2 percentage points over 10 years.

Further investigation reveals that this Weekly Donburi Layer is more common in younger family households.

An analysis covering the three years from fiscal 2023 to fiscal 2025 found that in households where the wife is in her 20s or 30s, nearly half (43%) used donburi-style menus once a week or more. In contrast, among other age groups, 32% in their 40s, 28% in their 50s, and 15% in their 60s and above reported this frequency, with the proportion decreasing as age increased.

From the perspective of household composition, 42% of households with young children, including elementary school age and younger, belonged to the Weekly Donburi Layer, a higher figure than other household types.

Donburi-style menus appear to be eaten frequently, particularly by younger households and those with small children.

Perfect Scores for Time Efficiency and Taste, But Compromises on Health?

Figure 2.

Donburi-style menus, where a single bowl completes a meal, are often discussed in terms of "convenience" and "time-saving." Indeed, donburi-style menus recorded a high appearance rate of 120% of the average in "time-saving/busy" occasions for evening meals [Figure 2].

Furthermore, their appearance rate increases to 105% of the average in meals considered "family favorites."

Conversely, their appearance significantly decreases in "health" occasions. In these occasions, the appearance of donburi-style menus is only 57% of the average.

Donburi-style menus are easy to prepare and please the family, making them a "reliable main menu" for modern busy individuals. However, they also appear to be a less frequently chosen option in terms of nutritional value.

Next, we will delve into the ingredients used in donburi-style menus.

"Barley" and "Instant Wakame" Elevate Donburi-Style Menus to a Passing Grade

The efforts of the Weekly Donburi Layer to resolve the conflict between "time-saving" and "nutrition" are reflected in their ingredient choices. [Figure 3] compares the ingredients used in donburi-style menus (rice-based and noodle-based) between the Weekly Donburi Layer and the non-Weekly Donburi Layer (households that eat donburi-style menus less than once a week for their evening meals; hereinafter referred to as the 'Non-Weekly Donburi Layer').

Figure 3.

Overall, there are no major differences in ingredient trends between the two groups. However, upon closer examination, some interesting characteristics were observed in the ingredients used by the Weekly Donburi Layer.

The Weekly Donburi Layer used more "barley" (*) for rice-based dishes and "instant wakame" for noodle-based dishes than the Non-Weekly Donburi Layer. (*Barley refers to grains such as mochi barley and pearl barley, eaten boiled or cooked with rice).

Both barley and instant wakame are rich in dietary fiber, have a strong image as health foods, and are easy to prepare. Other ingredients that frequently rank high include natto, mekabu, sesame seeds, dried vegetables, and nori, all of which share the common characteristics of easy preparation and high nutritional value.

These ingredients may represent a perfect choice for consumers who want to rely on convenient donburi-style menus due to their busy schedules but are concerned about nutritional imbalances, offering a solution they feel they "can manage."

By effortlessly compensating for nutritional deficiencies, these ingredients raise the potential of donburi-style menus to a "passing grade" for consumers. The presence of such ingredients may also be contributing to the expanding share of donburi-style menus on dining tables.

The presence of donburi-style menus in our diets is likely to grow even larger in the future.

If, in the near future, a super-heavy user group emerges that eats donburi-style menus three or four times a week, their variety will undoubtedly become even richer than it is now. At that time, what kind of ingredients will help consumers make their choices?

We will continue to pay attention to changes in dining habits, looking forward to the emergence of unexpected ingredients.

Shoku MAP® is a marketing information infrastructure for dining table surveys targeting individuals (0 years and older, male and female) belonging to married households (wives aged 20-72) and single households (20-77 years old, male and female) within a 30km radius of the Tokyo metropolitan area.

It conducts research and analysis related to food, including menu and ingredient usage, product (JAN tracking) utilization, household stock status, consumer food consciousness, and daily feelings, which constitute "365 days" of daily dining tables.

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