Fast passes at restaurants are popular among young people and tourists because they save time

``FastPass'', which allows you to pay a fee and get priority access, is becoming more and more popular at restaurants. Because you can enter the store without waiting in line, it is popular among young people and tourists, and experts say that it fits the ``Taipa'' (time performance) mindset that aims to make effective use of time. He says there is also room for the system to be expanded to facilities such as museums that have long wait times to enter.

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One of the fast passes introduced for restaurants is a service called ``SuiSui.'' According to the operating company, it is used at restaurants with long lines in urban areas and tourist spots, and as of September 18, it has been adopted at 104 restaurants in 20 prefectures.

Users can read the QR codes posted in front of each store with their smartphones and purchase tickets in advance to gain priority entry. The price varies depending on the store, but it ranges from 500 to 2,000 yen, depending on how crowded it is.

The service will be introduced in December 2023 at Butayama, a ramen restaurant located in the Yaesu underground shopping mall directly connected to JR Tokyo Station. It is said that during lunch and dinner hours, there is a queue of 30 minutes to an hour, and on weekdays there are about six customers a day on average.

Yumasa Takenouchi, 29, an office worker from Taito Ward, Tokyo, who used a Fastpass for 500 yen with a friend on his way home from work, said, ``I wanted to use the time after eating effectively.'' I've used the service more than 10 times so far because I'm fascinated by the fact that I don't have to wait in line. ``I can't get my time back, but I think I can get back 500 yen right away,'' he said with satisfaction.

Fastpasses are also available at tourist spots. Since the introduction of the system in June 2014 at Kyoto Kamo Soba, a soba restaurant in Kyoto City, its use has been increasing, mainly among tourists. On Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, there can be lines of over two hours, and couples have even paid 4,000 yen per person to use the service. Hideyuki Shibata (45), CEO of the restaurant management company, said, ``I think people are happy because they can finish their meal first and then visit tourist spots in their free time.''

Yutaka Suzuki, a specially appointed researcher at the Distribution Economic Research Institute (Tokyo), a public interest incorporated foundation that researches consumer behavior, points out that the younger generation, which has a strong preference for Taipa, uses FastPass because they want to avoid waiting times. He added that there is room for the service to spread to facilities with long waiting times, such as art museums, and added, ``If awareness increases, people other than young people may start using it.''