[iNews24 Reporter Kim Hyo-jin] Japan's most in-demand restaurants are testing a theme-park-style fast pass — pay extra, skip the line, and get priority seating.
![A QR code for buying a fast pass stands outside Den, a soba shop in Kyoto. Suisui’s CEO posted the photo online. [Photo=Yonhap News]](https://contents-cdn.viewus.co.kr/image/2026/04/CP-2023-0087/image-3f9f884a-7586-490a-a75e-6c36836b373f.jpeg)
On the 12th, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) reported that Japanese IT service firm Suisui is currently offering the service at roughly 80 restaurants across Tokyo, Osaka, Kyoto and other cities.
Customers standing in line outside popular eateries can simply scan a QR code with their smartphones, purchase a fast pass, and be admitted much faster — no more waiting in long queues.
Prices for fast passes fluctuate depending on each restaurant’s crowd levels and even the weather. During peak times, a fast pass can cost several times the price of a meal.
Suisui splits fast-pass revenue 50/50 with participating restaurants. Den, the Kyoto soba shop that introduced the service in spring 2024, said fast-pass sales reached 419,000 yen (about $2,807) in November last year.
At that time, the priciest single fast pass sold for 8,000 yen (about $54), roughly six times the average per-customer spend.
The company found that about 70% of users are in their 20s and 30s. At some restaurants using the service, 90% of fast-pass buyers were foreign tourists.
Suisui founder and CEO Keiichiro Sato said, “It’s not simply about whether someone has money. People decide based on the value of the time they would spend waiting in line.”
Competitors have popped up. Nikkei reported that TableCheck, a restaurant reservation app company, launched a fast-pass service in 2024 and now applies it at about 100 restaurants.
