The Japanese food service industry has taken longer than other countries to improve and reestablish itself. The emergency declaration was not fully lifted until March 2022.
In addition, the recovery temporarily slowed down because of the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in July. Further, the conflict between Russia and Ukraine caused inflationary pressure, the depreciation of the Japanese yen, and increased resource prices.
On the bright side, earnings coming from Europe and North America convey better impressions when translated into the Japanese currency. For these reasons, main Japanese companies have been forced to revise their consolidated earnings forecast for the fiscal year ending March 2023.