SUKIYA Founder of Gyudon passes away, previously worked at Yoshinoya

Japan’s largest gyudon chain brand, SUKIYA (Suki), has announced that its parent company, Zensho, said that its founder and chairman, Ken­taro Ogawa, passed away on Monday, April 6, at the age of 77. It is reported that he died from a myocardial infarction.

The company said the funeral will be held in a private family format. At the family’s request, it will decline any flowers, offerings, condolence money, messages of condolence, or attendance at the mourning ceremony. A memorial gathering is planned for a later time; once the specific date and location are confirmed, they will be announced.

Zensho is currently trading at 9,437 yen, up 4.1%, with a market capitalization of more than 1.47 trillion yen.

Switch to Australian beef to seize market share amid the mad cow disease crisis

Data shows that Kentaro Ogawa was born on July 29, 1948, in Ishikawa Prefecture. He once attended the University of Tokyo, but later chose to drop out and went to work at Yoshinoya. After Yoshinoya fell into a management crisis in 1980, he left, and in 1982 he started his business, founding Zensho in Yokohama and opening the first SUKIYA outlet.

It is reported that he founded the company with three other people using 5 million yen as startup capital. During the 2003 mad cow disease crisis, U.S. beef imports were banned, and Japan’s gyudon industry was hit. SUKIYA was forced to replace it with pork bowls. But Kentaro Ogawa quickly decided to adopt Australian beef, and he readjusted the recipe, restoring gyudon supply earlier than other competitors, while also seizing the opportunity to expand its market share.

As of the end of March 2025, Zensho’s revenue exceeded 1 trillion yen, reaching 1.14 trillion yen, up 17% year on year. It broke the record for Japanese food and beverage companies, with net profit of 39.29 billion yen, up 28%. Its brands include Hamazushi, Coco’s, and others, with more than 15,000 stores worldwide.