Tokyo — A small number of unclean pranks at sushi conveyor belt restaurants in Japan have resulted in stock declines, venue overhauls, and legal action, as well as outraged social media discussion. In recent days, a number of videos labeled “sushi terrorism” have surfaced on social media platforms such as Twitter and TikTok; some of them appear to be weeks or even years old.
In one video, which has been viewed nearly 40 million times on Twitter, a customer licks the top of a communal soy sauce bottle and the rim of a teacup, before licking his finger and touching a piece of sushi as it passes by on a conveyor belt.
The video, which was shot at a branch of the Sushiro restaurant chain in the city of Gifu in central Japan, caused shares of the restaurant’s parent company to drop about five percent on Tuesday.
Other recordings depicted patrons at several restaurants applying wasabi to passing sushi and licking the spoon from a shared green tea powder bottle.
Even while the events appear to be limited to a few videos, they have generated an outrage in Japan, a country renowned for its cleanliness standards.
One Japanese Twitter user responded, “This is sickening,” while another added, “I can’t go to conveyor belt sushi restaurants anymore.”
Kaiten-zushi restaurant offering sushi on revolving conveyor belt, Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan. Tsukiji fish market, Tokyo, Japan. Kaiten-zushi restaurant with sushi-serving conveyor belt. Kaiten-zushi restaurant serves sushi on a rotating conveyor belt, Tsukiji fish market, (Photo by: Education Images/Universal Images Group via Getty Images).
Sushiro stated in a statement that the youngster and his parents had apologized for the viral video, but that the company had filed a formal police complaint.
It stated, “As a company, we will continue to respond firmly with both criminal and civil cases,”
It stated that every bottle of soy sauce in the concerned store had been replaced and every cup had been washed, and it announced new restaurant policies.
At the Gifu location and others nearby, customers will carry utensils and condiments from a serving station to their tables, and diners will be able to request sanitized tableware nationwide.
Hama-sushi and Kura Sushi, two additional impacted restaurants, have also stated they want to take legal action, with the latter chain proposing to put cameras above conveyor belts to monitor customers, according to Jiji press agency.
4:00 The fading art of sushi
Luna Watanabe, a 20-year-old musician in Tokyo, stated that she was outraged by the videos.
“Omotenashi (hospitality) is an important selling point in Japan, so I think it’s unforgivable,” she told AFP in Tokyo’s posh Ginza neighborhood. It is detrimental to both customers and employees.
Photographer Tetsuya Haneda was among those who mostly shrugged off the tragedy.
“As far as I’m concerned, it only happened once, so that doesn’t mean it happens all the time,” he stated. It’s not a problem; in fact, now there will be fewer people waiting in line, so I won’t need a reservation even on the weekend.
After the initial outcry, there was also a rush of support for the impacted companies on the Internet, with some tweeting their support under the hashtag #saveSushiro.
Japanese singer Yuya Tegoshi tweeted, “I’ve always wanted to go to Sushiro but haven’t been able to because it’s always crowded,” “But the situation now is the absolute worst for them, so I’m definitely going to visit.”
Kohei Nii, the president of Sushiro, stated on Twitter that he was overwhelmed by the “an outpouring of support.”
“I’m so grateful I could cry.”
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