News
April 6, 2023 | 2:09 p.m
Stomach-filled “sushi terror” is rampant in Japan.
Police arrested two men in Osaka this week for allegedly contaminating a shared bowl of pickled ginger at a fast food restaurant as part of a viral prank.
Ryo Shimazu, 35, and Toshihide Oka, 34, filmed themselves dipping chopsticks into the communal bowl and dining at Yoshinoya, a popular chain beef restaurant in the coastal city.
A spokesperson for one restaurant said customers could only use serving utensils to pick ginger – not dive in with chopsticks already in their mouths.
“The video made our regular customers feel uncomfortable and uncomfortable,” Yoshinoya said in a statement, adding that the chain had to close the restaurant to clean its containers.
“We deeply regret that this has become a major news story calling into question the safety and security of the entire foodservice industry. We sincerely hope that this type of thing does not happen again in the future.”
According to the police, Oka goaded Shimazu into doing something funny at the restaurant – prompting Shimazu to eat ginger as his friend filmed him.
They told the police they “just wanted to make everyone laugh” and thought it was “funny”.
The prank got a lot of chuckles online, but the consequences aren’t laughable.
The couple now face business obstruction and property damage charges that carry fines of up to $6,080, and up to three years in prison.
This incident is just the latest of the “sushi terror” pranks that have plagued Japan’s fast food industry, particularly the conveyor belt sushi system.
Last month, police arrested three people for allegedly licking the top of a collective soy sauce container and using their hands to grab sushi from a conveyor belt at Kurta Sushi restaurant in central Japan.
Similar incidents circulating on social media in recent years have raised concerns that the country’s conveyor belt sushi system and public bowl restaurants may be outdated and in need of an overhaul.
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