Ca-Tu-Ya — the Japanese tonkatsu chain that opened 13 stores in HK and closed every one

Ca-Tu-Ya, a Japanese tonkatsu (breaded pork cutlet) chain, entered Hong Kong in 2012 and grew to 13 locations at its peak, establishing a presence across the territory. On 4 May 2026, the chain ceased operations entirely — every store closed and the brand's Hong Kong website went dark.

The parent company, listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, removed all references to its Hong Kong operations from the Japanese corporate website, leaving only a single brand — Tokyo Asakusa Fried Chicken — still listed under its international portfolio. No official closure announcement was made; customers discovered the closures when stores failed to open.

Ca-Tu-Ya's exit was part of a broader wave of Japanese restaurant chains contracting their overseas footprints in 2025–2026, as the weak yen made imports more expensive and Hong Kong's post-pandemic dining market struggled with high rents and labour shortages. The chain had been a familiar sight in Hong Kong shopping malls and food courts for 14 years, but its mid-market positioning — not cheap enough to compete with local fast food, not premium enough to command the margins of upmarket Japanese restaurants — left it squeezed from both directions.