It was announced on October 7, 2025, that Honke Owariya, a long-established Kyoto soba restaurant in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City, which has been in business for over 550 years, will close in January 2026. Due to labor shortages and rising prices following the COVID-19 pandemic, it will be difficult to maintain stable business operations, and the restaurant will downsize and transition to online sales of soba products. While the restaurant, one of the longest-established businesses in Kyoto, will maintain its name, it will be taking an extended break from restaurant operations.
Notifications have already been given to approximately 30 business partners, customers, and employees. The approximately 130-year-old store and factory land and building located on Kurumayacho-dori Nijo-sagaru in Nakagyo Ward, Kyoto City, will be sold next spring, and the restaurant will be run as a family business by the four members of the founding family. The restaurant will cease production and sales of sweets and will instead focus on selling dried soba noodles, concentrated dashi, and other products on an e-commerce website.
Honke Owariya was founded in 1465. According to the store's legend, the origins date back to when the owner moved from Owari Province (Aichi Prefecture) to Kyoto and began selling sweets. They began serving soba in 1702, and were patronized by the Imperial Court and Zen temples. The successive owners of the store have inherited the family name of Inaoka Denzaemon, and the current owner is the 16th generation owner, Inaoka Ariko (50 years old), the first female owner, who serves as president.
