Photo by David W. Smith/Daily NewsChopsticks are the utensils of choice at Yuki.

Bowling Green’s restaurant market has a growing Japanese influence with yet another competitor entering the scene.

According to a recent public notice, Samurai, Sushi and Steak will open at 2718 Scottsville Road. The company’s partners are from Tennessee, but are incorporated in Louisville. They could not be reached for comment.

For the owners of Yuki’s Restaurant, Bowling Green’s first Japanese restaurant that opened nearly a decade ago, the news does bring up concerns over market share to Denise and Joe Nishijima.

&#8220Competition – every business owner worries, of course,” Denise Nishijima said. She said her restaurant enjoys plenty of loyal, repeat customers.

&#8220Everyone has their own taste,” she said. &#8220How many steakhouses do we have? If that’s what Bowling Green wants, that’s what will hopefully stay open.”

But she said customers should realize the difference in ownership.

&#8220Japanese-owned is authentic Japanese,” she said.

Yuki’s recently opened its new location at 151 Ironskillet Court. The restaurant also put a Saturday lunch back on its menu rotation &#8220just to get our business customers back when they’re off work,” Nishjima said.

The destination location on the other side of Scottsville Road is a plus for Yuki’s, she said, but she does miss the easily accessible business crowd from Yuki’s former location at 1945 Scottsville Road, which is now occupied by Sakura Japanese Cuisine, a New York-style Japanese restaurant that opened in early February.

Wen Jiang, one of Sakura’s owners, said the restaurant is slowly changing the decor from the former Yuki’s restaurant.

&#8220We just now got our liquor license last week,” she said.

Sakura can now serve saké.

To Jiang, the burgeoning number of Japanese restaurants reflects a growing population of people who desire Japanese food and is a byproduct of the area’s automotive suppliers from Japan.

&#8220Food is another way of culture,” Jiang said. &#8220This is a place people can come and relax.”

Japanese food is popular right now because more people are willing to try both cooked and raw sushi, she said.

&#8220It’s appealing to a younger crowd and more people are beginning to embrace Japanese food as a healthy and light dining option,” she said. &#8220After you get used to it, people want it more and more and want it every day.”

Jiang said she lets customers pick the contents of sushi as well as requesting custom rolls.

Shogun manager Ronny Salvador said his main concern is that people get good quality food.

Salvador said he focuses on the customer, rather than the competition. Shogun has operated in Bowling Green for eight years, he said.

&#8220I know how hard it is to make it in Bowling Green. My main concern is pleasing my customers,” Salvador said.

Shogun of Japan is about to open its sixth store in O’Fallon, Mo. The other locations are in Goodlettsville, Tenn., Owensboro, Saint Charles and Chesterfield, Mo.

Diversification will add an interesting mix to the traditional Japanese restaurant, with the addition of barbecue ribs and pastas to the menu.

&#8220We’re putting in more things. We won’t be just a Japanese restaurant,” Salvador said.

Management for another Japanese restaurant, Kyoto on Scottsville Road, was unavailable for comment.

Rick Horn, director of the Western Kentucky University Small Business Development Center, said the competition is great for the consumer, but not necessarily for the individual businesses.

&#8220Each one of those will have to be on top of their game and will have to give the best value for the dollar, the best service and the best taste,” Horn said.

Horn said business owners should think about the impact of losing a slice of market share with the entry of more competition, whether it’s direct or indirect.

&#8220Even though you’re not always head-to-head, there’s always that someone who will take five to 10 percent from you,” Horn said.

Whether it’s grocery stores that offer fresh sushi or fast food restaurants that offer Asian-accented meals, Horn said indirect competition doesn’t have to come from just Japanese restaurants.

But the shakeout in the market will determine what consumers want, according to Stacy Rhue, president and chief executive officer of the Kentucky Restaurant Association in Louisville.

&#8220It is going to boil down to whether the local market will support it and the local operators who are committed to the idea will be successful,” Rhue said.

There are so many factors to take in with each restaurant that it will impossible to predict who will make it and who will not, Rhue said.

Bowling Green consumers will provide the answer soon enough.

What we have:

Yuki Japanese Restaurant, 151 Ironskillet Court

Ichiban Restaurant, 1423 U.S. 31-W By-Pass

Sakura Japanese Cuisine, 1945 Scottsville Road

Kyoto Diner, 2800 Scottsville Road

Shogun of Japan, 1713 Scottsville Road

What’s on the horizon:

Samurai Sushi and Steak, coming soon to 2718 Scottsville Road