In this paper we explore the process of value co-creation in two elite kaiseki restaurant companies in Japan. The authors first describe key themes that underlie the omotenashi of the tea ceremony. The authors then examine the ways in which these themes influence the service philosopy of Teiichi Yuki, the found of the Kitcho restaurant chain, and Rikifusa Satake, the president of the Minokichi restaurant chain. Based on these analyses, we argue that existing discussions of co-creation, which focus on the customer’s creation of value-in-use, should be extended to permit the analysis of usage experiences that involve multiple, simultaneous, interdependent value-in-processes. In particular, in the two companies examined by the authors, both the master and the customer experience value-in-use during the delivery of kaiseki cuisine. Moreover, given the importance of mutual consideration, the value-in-use experienced by each party is critically dependent on the value-in-use received by the other.

This study was conducted to evaluate the menu of a Japanese restaurant in a first class tourism hotel. The calculations used for the menu analysis were conducted using MS Excel 2003. Several previous studies have been conducted to analyze menus. For example, Pavesic used of the weighted contribution margins (WCM) and potential food cost (PFC%) to evaluate menus, while Kasavana & Smith used the mix margin (MM%) and unit contribution margin (CM) to evaluate menus. The menu engineering method focused on the customer's viewpoints, while the Cost/Margin analysis method considered the manager's viewpoints. The menus that need continuous keeping Kasavana & Smith (Star) and Pavesic (Standard) included 'Assorted sashimi with side dishes (big), 'Lunch box special', 'Tempura course', 'Broiled Spanish mackerel and side dishes', 'Shrimp tempura', 'Special sushi', 'Seafood Udong', 'Buckwheat noodles'. The results of this study should increase customer satisfaction and profits at the Japanese Restaurant.

This study was performed by questionnaire to investigate the satisfaction and preference on the menu of Japanese restaurant customers in Seoul. The subjects were consisted of 386 participants in Seoul. The results are as follows: Respondents consider that the preferred menu of Japanese restaurants' foods is menus such as 'assorted raw fish', 'sushi', and 'dessert' rather than menus such as 'jin mi', 'seasonal appetizer', 'raw fish with vinegar' and 'clean soup'. The higher intake Japanese cuisine menus was 'dessert' (3.71 point), 'noodle and soup' 'sushi' 'fried dishes', and but 'jin mi' (1.91 point), 'seasonal appetizer' scored the lowest. In result of analyzing difference between importance and satisfaction of the menu, importance is much higher than satisfaction. In terms of IPA analysis on Japanese cuisine menu, it was noteworthy that the 2nd quadrant with high fulfillment but low importance for customers included 'noodle and soup'. The menus that need continuous keeping management with high importance and high fulfillment included 'assorted raw fish', 'roasted dishes', 'fried dishes', 'beef and seafood casserole', 'sushi', 'deopbap', 'dessert'.

This study aimed to analyze the impact of importance and fulfillment(satisfaction) factors of menu quality on customers' intent of revisit of Japanese restaurants, so that it could provide information helpful to build up detailed marketing strategy and present considerations for management's higher sales amount and more efficient business results as well. Importance on menu quality scored higher level than fulfillment on the whole in Japanese restaurants. Notably, in regard to attributes of menu quality, it was found that respondents put higher stress on flavor, nutrition, cleanliness and freshness than anything else. In terms of IPA analysis on Japanese cuisine menu quality, it was noteworthy that the items with high importance but low fulfillment included menu price as an attribute for menu quality, although it was not shown in menu-specific items. In the survey on the associations between fulfillment(customer satisfaction) and intent of revisit, it was found that factors of customer satisfaction included 'trimness of dishes', 'information', 'appropriateness' and 'economic affordable' Out of these factors, it was noted that both 'trimness' and 'economic affordable' had significant effects on customer satisfaction at the significance level ranging from p<0.05 to p<0.001.