Family-style restaurants are feeling the squeeze as diners increasingly opt for meals more on the cheap, such as under-¥300 "gyudon" bowls of beef on rice and "bento" boxed lunches below ¥500.
The so-called family restaurants (shortened in Japanese to "famiresu") long made up a middle range of eateries that filled the gap between gourmet restaurants and fast-food joints, offering modest alcoholic beverages, free coffee refills, parking (as most are located in suburbs not near commuter stations) and a place where children aren't considered a nuisance.
What has befallen the family restaurants? Following are questions and answers: