Customers must register 43 years in advance to buy this dish.

Diners wanting to eat Kobe beef patties at a Japanese restaurant had to wait 43 years.

Customers who want to buy a box of frozen Kobe beef patties from Asahiya, a family-owned butcher shop in Takasago city, Hyogo prefecture in western Japan, have to wait 43 years for their turn because of the long queue.

"That's not a typo. It's exactly 43 years," CNN wrote.

Founded in 1926, Asahiya sold meat products, including Kobe beef, for years before adding World War II beef croquettes to its menu. But it wasn’t until the early 2000s that the Extreme Croquettes became an online phenomenon, leading to ever-longer wait lists. By 2022, the wait for delivery of the croquettes will have been 30 years, said Shigeru Nitta, Asahiya’s third-generation owner.

Nitta grew up in Hyogo, visiting local cattle farms and beef auctions with his father from a young age. In 1994, at the age of 30, he took over the store from his father and has managed it ever since.

Customers must register 43 years in advance to buy this dish.

The shop's famous Croquettes. Photo: CNN

To make his shop's cakes famous, Nitta had a bold idea in 1999: sell without profit. At that time, he sold Kobe beef cakes for 270 yen (45,000 VND). "The beef in the cake alone cost 400 yen (66,000 VND)," the shop owner recalled. At that time, the shop made quality cakes at affordable prices to promote the product. To limit the initial financial loss, the shop limited to 200 cakes per week, the Kobe beef was preservative-free and fresh every day. The potatoes were sourced from a local farm. Since then, Nitta's cakes have become famous throughout the country.

In 2016, the shop stopped taking orders for this type of cake because the wait time for customers to buy it had reached 14 years. But then customers kept calling the shop to order the cake. So in 2017, the shop continued to sell this type of cake but increased the price to avoid losing money. The cake then cost 500 yen (84,000 VND). The number of cakes sold also increased from 200 a week to 200 a day. Nitta said he felt very embarrassed to make customers wait too long to get their turn to buy the cake. But if they produced more, the shop would go bankrupt because of the loss.

Customers must register 43 years in advance to buy this dish.

The restaurant's Kobe beef croquettes are frozen immediately after being prepared. Photo: CNN

Luckily for Nitta, more than 50% of the customers who order the cheap cakes also buy other products, like Kobe beef. So the shop doesn't lose much.

Currently, each box of five potato beef patties costs 2,700 yen (450,000 VND). The shop regularly sends notifications to customers and updates them on when the goods will be delivered. A week before the delivery date, the shop will confirm with the customer again. Because the waiting time is too long, when it is their turn, some customers have changed their address or email. In this case, the shop will call the customer.

When Nitta started selling croquettes online, he received many orders from far-flung areas. Most of the customers there had heard of Kobe beef but had not had the opportunity to visit the store to try it. That was when Nitta realized that there were many people who had never eaten Kobe beef.

For this reason, he continued selling croquettes, increasing his orders and no longer worrying about profit. One of the most memorable orders was from a cancer patient who was about to undergo surgery. This person was full of hope that he could live and eat Nitta's croquettes.

“Our cakes are the motivation for patients to get through surgery. That surprised me the most,” Nitta said.

Customers must register 43 years in advance to buy this dish.

Inside the Asahiya store. Photo: CNN

The patient actually survived cancer surgery and called Nitta to say he hoped to live a long life after tasting the croquettes. “I still remember what the customer said and I was very touched,” the shop owner added.

Nitta hopes the restaurant's popularity can help the service industry in general. "I want as many people as possible to eat Kobe beef and not just eat at my restaurant," Nitta said.

Asahiya currently has two locations, in Takasago and Kobe, and its finished products are frozen and shipped around the country. While the store primarily serves food, Nitta says visitors can also visit the Kobe location, which sells two takeout snacks: Tor Road and Kitanozaka croquettes, named after nearby streets.

Kitanozaka uses lean beef for 360 yen (VND 60,000) and Tor Road uses beef tenderloin and shoulder for 460 yen (VND 77,000).

Customers must register 43 years in advance to buy this dish.