Tenkaippin (天下一品) is a Japanese restaurant chain specializing in ramen noodles. The first restaurant was opened in Kyoto by Tsutomu Kimura in 1981. As of December 2014, there are 233 branches in 38 of Japan's prefectures as well as a branch in Hawaii. The chain is often known by its short name Ten'ichi (天一). Tenkaippin holds a special promotion every October 1, which they call Ten'ichi Day (天一の日, Ten'ichi no Hi), playing off of the name of their restaurant and the calendar date.

Tenkaippin
The first Tenkaippin store in Sakyō-ku, Kyoto
Restaurant information
EstablishedNovember 16, 1981; 42 years ago (1981-11-16)
Owner(s)Tsutomu Kimura
Food typeRamen
CountryJapan
Other locations233 nationwide
Franchise chain restaurant
A bowl of Tenkaippin ramen

Controversies

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In October 2012, Tenkaippin was involved in a lawsuit over failure to pay a resort in Ōtsu, Shiga, for its appearance in one of their television commercials, with the resort demanding ¥18 million, which Tenkaippin refused to pay.[1]

In January 2014, 18 stores across the country revealed that they had been serving Chinese-grown scallion at their restaurants rather than the "Kujo Negi" scallion native to Kyoto, and the franchisee publicly apologized for the mix-up.[2]

References

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  1. ^ ラーメン「天下一品」側敗訴 CMめぐり強迫 京都地裁 [Tenkaippin loses case: Coercion involving commercials]. Asahi Shimbun Digital (in Japanese). The Asahi Shimbun Company. 4 July 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
  2. ^ 「天下一品」で誤表示 九条ネギに中国産ネギ交ぜる [Mislabeling at Tenkaippin: Chinese scallions mixed up with Kujo negi]. Nihon Keizai Shimbun (in Japanese). Nikkei Inc. 11 January 2014. Archived from the original on 13 December 2014. Retrieved 12 December 2014.
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