Matsuya and Matsunoya Launch 'New Rice, Free Refill Fair' — Free Rice Refills on Set Meals

Matsuya and Matsunoya are holding the “New Rice, Free Refill Fair.” Order a set meal (including rice sets and morning meals) and rice refills are free for dine-in customers. Matsuya starts at 10 a.m. on September 29, Matsunoya at 3 p.m. on the 30th. Unlike past free large-serving campaigns, this one offers unlimited refills.

On September 29, Matsuya and Matsunoya launched the “New Rice, Free Refill Fair,” offering free rice refills, for dine-in customers only, to anyone ordering a set meal. Matsuya’s fair began the same day at 10 a.m., while Matsunoya, the tonkatsu chain, follows a day later at 3 p.m. on the 30th. The fair covers Matsuya and Matsunoya stores nationwide, excluding some locations. It was announced in a notice on Matsuya’s official website.

Set Meals Are the Target, Including Rice Sets and Morning Meals

The notice states that the fair is being held at “Matsuya, which serves Beef Bowl, Curry and Rice, set meals, and other bowls,” and at “Matsunoya, the tonkatsu chain,” explaining: “Customers who order from our wide variety of set meal items get free rice refills (for dine-in only).” It specifies that the target menu items are set meals, including Rice Sets that come with rice but no salad, and morning meal items. Free refills are limited to customers eating in the store.

The start date and time differ by brand.

Brand	Start Date & Time	Coverage
Matsuya	Tuesday, September 29, 2026, 10:00 a.m. onward	Includes stores co-located with Matsunoya or My Curry Shokudo
Matsunoya	Wednesday, September 30, 2026, 3:00 p.m. onward	Includes stores co-located with My Curry Shokudo

Effectively a Free 200 Yen Bowl of Rice

On Matsuya’s menu, Rice sold on its own is listed at 200 yen for a Regular Serving and 290 yen for a Large Serving. The free refill adds value equivalent to one such bowl, though the notice does not specify whether it corresponds to the Regular or Large Serving.

Twelve set meal items currently qualify, priced from 790 yen to 1,380 yen, averaging around 1,033 yen. Treating one Regular Serving of rice (200 yen) as the added value, that comes to just under 20% of the set meal’s price. The ten morning meal items that also qualify are priced from 350 yen to 700 yen, meaning that for the cheapest items in the 350 yen range, a single refill amounts to more than half the item’s price.

Past “New Rice Fair” Campaigns Gave a Free Large Serving; This Time It’s Free Refills

The “New Rice Fair” is an annual autumn campaign that Matsuya has run for years; past notices show it has been announced repeatedly in autumn (September–October) since around 2009. However, the notices from 2013 through 2019 all offered “a free upgrade to a Large or Extra-large Serving of rice for customers ordering a set meal,” listing a handful of eligible items individually and running for a fixed one-week period with specified start and end dates.

This time, the format has changed: instead of listing eligible items individually, it covers “set meals” broadly (including rice sets and morning meals), and instead of a one-time size upgrade, it offers unlimited refills. The notice’s body text does not state an end date. This is the first Matsuya notice to carry the “New Rice Fair” name since autumn 2019, marking its revival after seven years.

That said, the “free rice refill” mechanism itself is not without precedent. In October 2022, Matsuya ran the “One-Week Limited Chainwide Free Rice Refills for Set Meals” campaign, whose notice stated, “Because it’s autumn’s hearty appetite season and we want you to eat plenty of rice” and “limited to customers eating in the store” — nearly the same conditions as this time, namely dine-in only and set meals as the target. That campaign did not carry the “New Rice Fair” name. Matsunoya, the tonkatsu chain, ran a free rice refill promotion during the 2024 new rice season; Matsunoya had not appeared in past “New Rice Fair” notices, but this time it is included in the announcement.

Official X Account Teased the Fair the Night Before; Official Notice Confirms Coverage

On the night of the 28th, the day before, Matsuya’s official X account posted, “It starts tomorrow at 10 a.m.,” with the hashtags “New Rice Fair” and “[All Stores] Free Rice Refills” as a teaser. This official notice now confirms the formal scope: eligible stores are “Matsuya and Matsunoya stores nationwide, excluding some locations”; Matsunoya starts a day after Matsuya, on September 30 at 3 p.m.; and the eligible menu is set meals (including rice sets and morning meals).

September 29 also happens to be the day of the nationwide launch of the Black Mapo Tofu Set Meal, which had previously been sold at 70 stores on a trial basis, as well as a Meat Day promotion covering two hamburg steak set meals. Matsuya’s official X account also mentioned “Meat Day” that same morning.