Itacho Sushi has been a Hong Kong sushi brand for 22 years
Earlier this week, another name was added to Singapore’s ever-growing list of F&B casualties.
Itacho Sushi closed all its remaining stores here on Monday (Mar 16), following a string of closures over the past year.
The last four Hong Kong-based sushi shops at Ion Orchard, Bugis Junction, The Star Vista, and Novena Square 2 are now listed as “permanently closed” on Google Maps. Its website, social media accounts, and mobile app have all been taken down—without any public announcement from the company.
Government records on the Bizfile portal show that Itacho BM, the Singapore-registered company behind the chain’s local operations, has been marked as “gazetted for cancellation” in the Companies Register of Accounting and Regulatory Companies. The notice was first published on February 13.
For a brand that has been around for 22 years—17 in Singapore—the silence was telling. We look back at how the chain that once drew crowds with its “cheap and good” sushi ended up here, without saying goodbye and without meaning.
Itacho Sushi had more than 40 stores in three high-end markets
Itacho Sushi was founded in Hong Kong by the late food entrepreneur Ricky Cheng Wai-tao, also known as “Ricky San” for his knowledge of Japanese restaurant culture.
Cheng’s culinary journey began in Japan, where he studied as a child. He returned to Hong Kong in 1989 and launched his first business, a Japanese pancake shop called Pancake House, in 1992. At its peak, the chain operated 20 branches, but closed in 1996 as the pancake craze waned.
He then brought the Ajisen Ramen brand to Hong Kong using the franchise model in 1996 before establishing the Itamae Sushi chain in 2004 and later launching Itacho Sushi in 2007.
In 2008, Cheng, who has appeared frequently on television, even made history as the first non-Japanese winner of the annual tuna auction at Tokyo’s Tsukiji Market, acquiring a bluefin tuna with a winning bid of HK$430,000 (about S$70,239).
He was then known as the “Tuna King” for four consecutive years from then on.
Cheng brought Itacho Sushi to Singapore in July 2009 as part of the Taste of Japan Group, a Hong Kong-based parent company founded in 2004. Local operations were managed by Itacho BM.
The sushi chain continued to grow steadily over the years.
At its peak in 2019, Itacho Sushi had a strong presence across Asia, with 10 stores in Singapore, nearly 30 in Hong Kong, and additional locations in Japan—bringing its total to more than 40 restaurants in all three markets.
Along with Itamae Sushi, the chain reportedly generated more than HK$40 million (about $6.5 million) in annual revenue.
Legal battles and deteriorating health caused Cheng to retreat
But Cheng’s success would not last. The sushi chef was involved in a series of legal battles over the years.
Before Itacho Sushi, Cheng went into business with his siblings Daisy and Jason Poon. The three have worked together since 1996, when they brought Ajisen Ramen to Hong Kong.
In 2004, they reunited to launch Itamae Sushi under a company called Smart Wave Ltd, with Cheng as the sole director and the Poons as shareholders.
After the success of the first Itamae Sushi branch, the brothers accused Cheng of opening six additional Itamae Sushi branches in Hong Kong without their knowledge, each under a different company, with Cheng as the sole director and shareholder. He was also accused of opening a chain competing with Itacho Sushi without informing them.
This resulted in a lawsuit filed by the Poons against Cheng in 2013. The brothers won, and the Supreme Court found that Cheng breached the fiduciary duty in 2015. He lost the case and a subsequent appeal in 2016 and was eventually ordered to pay substantial legal costs and damages.
Then came another blow.
In 2017, Cheng revealed that he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He gradually retired from business, and in April 2024, he died in Tokyo at the age of 57.
That same year, Itacho Sushi quietly closed all of its stores in Hong Kong, and its parent company, Taste of Japan, was deregistered. A Google search for its Japanese stores turned up no results, and it’s unclear when they’re closing in Japan, either.
Commenting on the closure of Itacho Sushi stores in Hong Kong, Simon Wong Ka-wo, President of the Hong Kong Federation of Restaurants and Related Trades, said: “After his death, no one was left to take care of him.
Wong added that the chain has been in decline for nearly a decade, plagued by long legal battles, the lingering damage of the pandemic, and ultimately, the loss of the man who built it.
Singapore, it turns out, just seems like the last to go.
Good while it lasts
After the closure of Itacho Sushi in Singapore, several netizens took to Reddit to share their thoughts about the Japanese restaurant that was founded in Hong Kong.
Many fondly remember its early years—a place to visit for “cheap and good Japanese food” with its discount menu and large portions. One user remembered it as “one of the few good Japanese restaurants with a large variety of Japanese food, not just sushi and ramen.”
However, in recent years, especially after the period of COVID-19, the netizen added that the chain has been “in a big decline,” using “new ingredients” and “making portion sizes smaller,” all while “increasing prices”—a sentiment supported by another Internet user.
One noted that Itacho Sushi recently joined a growing list of restaurants to “bite the dust” in Singapore—a market where Japanese restaurant options are endless, competition is fierce, and closures are rare.
The full picture, however, is much harder to pin down. Was it the legal battles that crippled its founder? An epidemic of foot traffic? Cost-cutting that eroded customer trust? Or the death of one person that brought it all together? Possibly, some combination of all.
Whatever the reason, the quiet disappearance of a brand that has fed Singaporeans for 17 years is telling—another reminder that in one of Asia’s most competitive restaurant markets, even old names aren’t too bad to disappear without a word.
- Read other articles we’ve written about Singapore businesses here.
Featured Image Credit: Aldrin Tee via Google Reviews
