Japanese police arrest three people for participating in “sushiterrorism” pranks

() — Police in Japan have arrested three people for engaging in pranks at a sushi conveyor belt restaurant.

The facts, which are becoming more common, have been dubbed online as “#sushitero” or “#sushiterrorism” and have affected the financial fortunes of the country’s famous kaiten-style revolving restaurants.

Several perpetrators filmed themselves licking communal soy sauce bottles or touching plates of food coming down conveyor belts, before sharing the videos on social media.

Kura Sushi, one of the affected chains, said the three arrested had engaged in “extremely malicious disturbances” at their restaurant in the city of Nagoya on February 3.

“We hope that the recent arrests will allow the public to recognize that actions that undermine our trust-based structure with our clients are a ‘crime,'” he said in a statement. release this Wednesday.

“Our company will continue to strive to further improve the system to prevent such inconvenience and allow customers to enjoy their meals safely and comfortably. We will continue to do our best to grow the culture of conveyor belt sushi that is so cherished in Japan and globally.”

According to public broadcaster NHK, police have arrested a 21-year-old and two teenagers on suspicion of obstructing the restaurant’s operations. The 21-year-old allegedly had put his mouth on the spout of a soy sauce dispenser, he reported.

In addition to Kura Sushi, two other kaiten chains previously told they had suffered similar outages: Sushiro, owned by Food & Life Companies, and Hamazushi. Both had filed complaints with the police.

Japan has been dealing with this phenomenon since 2013. But the most recent wave of “sushitero” coincided with a surge in covid-19 infections, making people more aware of the importance of hygiene.

In recent weeks, some Japanese social media users have even begun to question whether conveyor-belt sushi restaurants have a future in the country, as consumers demand more attention to cleanliness.

Since then, the kaiten chains have made a number of changes to calm concerns and protect their businesses.

Sushiro stopped serving unsolicited food on conveyor belts. Kura Sushi, for his part, said he would use AI-operated cameras to monitor customers and their behavior.

‘s Emiko Jozuka and Michelle Toh contributed reporting.