Soba Sayaka, Standing Soba in Shiodome, Tokyo by gourmet cartoonist Nagumo Gourmet manga artist Nagumo's new menchidon poster in-store

Soba Sayaka (Caretta Shiodome B2F), a standing noodle restaurant in Shiodome, Tokyo, will display a new in-store poster by Nagumo ( https://x.com/nagumon ), a gourmet manga artist with over 75,000 SNS followers, starting on Tuesday, April 21, 2026. Collaboration promotions with anime and manga are not uncommon among major chain restaurants, but a privately owned restaurant asked a popular manga artist to actually try their food and draw his surprise on the spot, then display it as a huge A0-size poster in the restaurant and even distribute a press release. --The manga artist's drawings are then displayed on a giant A0-size poster in the storefront, and even a press release is distributed.

Last year, the previous poster was published in 84 media after the press release was sent out. This year, we have completed a new poster that depicts an even more intense "surprise the moment you eat it.

New poster for this year's menchidon

Why is this on the menu at a standing noodle shop?

This year marks the third anniversary of the opening of "Soba Sayaka" on April 17, 2023. Since its opening, the number of customers has grown six-fold, making it one of the most popular gourmet spots in the Shiodome/Shinbashi area.

The new menu item, "Menchidon" is a powerful dish consisting of a thick meat cutlet topped with authentic curry sauce blended with spices and secret flavors. The quality of this dish completely betrays the preconceived notion that it is a side menu item at a standing noodle shop, and it is the essence of this menu that people who actually eat it are astonished.

Mr. Nagumo's first comment after actually visiting the restaurant and eating it was, "Wow! What the heck is this? He said, "This curry is delicious! This curry is so good! It's like a European-style curry." "The spices are authentic." "It's like eating curry from a good place! The final words were, "Why is this on the menu at a standing buckwheat noodle shop? The reaction was as astonishing as the A-bomb. These astonished reactions were turned into an A0-size poster to be displayed in stores.

Stimulating the appetite not with photos or descriptions, but with a "manga" that makes you want to read it

The standard restaurant poster is a "picture of delicious-looking food. This poster, however, contains almost no explanation of the food. The A0-size posters are not "posters to look at" but rather "posters to read.

Like the original manga exhibitions that are gaining popularity around the world, the experience of stopping at a storefront, following the frames, and reading the lines - that experience itself increases the desire to "eat" before visiting the store.

Last year's previous poster was an easy-to-understand introduction of how to eat chilled meat soba with color illustrations. This time, Nagumo went a step further, actually visiting the restaurant and eating the menchidon, and depicting the shock and astonished reaction he felt at that moment in the form of a comic strip with panel layout and speech balloons. The realistic first-time reactions, rather than the made-up copy and direction, hit the reader with the desire to try the dish for themselves as well.

Last year's previous "How to Eat Cold Meat Soba Manga" poster spread by word of mouth, "It makes me want to eat it more than the picture," and over a long period of time it became a trigger for new customers to visit the restaurant. Even now, a year after the poster was displayed, some customers still enter the restaurant after taking a picture of the poster with their smartphones.

Why a private restaurant would go to such lengths?

We are proud of the food we serve. Thanks to customers who like our food, the restaurant is thankfully busy. However, our restaurant is neither a chain nor a major restaurant, and we started from scratch with zero brand power and recognition. Moreover, our location at the end of an underground shopping arcade in an office building meant very little traffic, so it was difficult to get even nearby customers to know about us.

If people don't know about it, it's as if it doesn't exist. It's not good enough to say, "If people eat it, they will understand.

The president and manager of our restaurant have been involved in the restaurant sales promotion media business for many years, and have tried various measures to reach customers with a high affinity for our restaurant in this age of information overflowing through SNS and the Internet. It was during this time that I met Nagumo, and the collaboration that was born last year generated a response that exceeded my expectations. This year, we will continue the collaboration.

Profile of Mr. Nagumo

Manga artist Mr. Nagumo is a Japanese manga artist whose works are mainly related to food. His representative works include the convenience store comic "Ore-ryu! Zesshin Meshi" (published by Bunkasha), and "Poniko no Shoku-Repo Gohan Zukan" (currently in its second volume), a food report manga compiling the "Gohan Zukan" project that was posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Nagumo's works are characterized by delicious illustrations and reliable gourmet information, and have gained the support of many fans.

https://x.com/nagumon

Poster display and SNS dissemination

Posters will be displayed at the storefront of Soba Sayaka on the B2F of Caretta Shiodome from 11:30 a.m. on April 21, 2026 (Tuesday).

The posters will also be posted on the store's official X (@soba_sayaka) page on the same day.

Official X

https://x.com/soba_sayaka

Official Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/soba_sayaka/

About Soba Sayaka

Soba Sayaka is a noodle restaurant located in the business district of Shiodome, Minato-ku, Tokyo. By specializing in standing-only eating, the restaurant pursues a speedy and high-quality dining experience. The restaurant enjoys the support of a wide range of customers, especially business people.

The signature dish, "Cold Meat Soba," is a bowl of firm, hard soba noodles served with cold sauce flavored with fragrant special raayu (Chinese red chili oil). Once you try it, you will never forget the unforgettable taste that keeps many customers coming back for more.

The soba is also characterized by its attention to ingredients, such as the black maitake mushroom tempura and a wide variety of toppings that can be customized to your liking. The restaurant dares not to offer take-out or hot soba, but rather to provide the experience of tasting cold meat soba on the spot.

The restaurant has been attracting a lot of attention on SNS and by word of mouth, and the number of customers visiting the restaurant is increasing at a rate that breaks the daily record for the most customers. It is attracting attention as a new type of standing noodle shop in the heart of Tokyo.

Store Outline

Store Name ： Soba Sayaka

Location ： B2F Caretta Shiodome, 1-8-2 Higashi-Shinbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo

Access ： 3 minutes walk from Shiodome Station on the Toei Oedo Line / 5 minutes walk from JR Shinbashi Station (directly connected to the underground passage)

Business hours: 11:30-17:00 17:30-20:00, last order 10 minutes before each

Closed: Saturday, Sunday and holidays

Opening ： April 17, 2023

Main Menu: Cold soba noodles with meat 1,150 yen (tax included), bowl of rice topped with minced meat 390 yen (tax included), tempura dish with black maitake mushrooms 300 yen (tax included)

Official X

https://x.com/soba_sayaka

Official Instagram

https://www.instagram.com/soba_sayaka/