Three people in Aichi Prefecture in Japan have been charged with “forced obstruction of business” for participating in a viral social media trend that involves people recording themselves unsanitary handling food and utensils at sushi restaurants.
Japanese police have made their first round of arrests for participants in what has been dubbed “sushi terrorism.” The viral trend is typically recorded at conveyor belt sushi restaurants, where food and utensils are shared between patrons as it travels along a conveyor belt to each customer.
A charged individual, 21-year-old Ryoga Yoshino, was seen in a video on February 3rd at Kura Sushi in Nagoya drinking directly from a soy sauce bottle that is shared between customers. Yoshino was also seen grabbing food on the plates and moving on the conveyor belt, leaving only empty plates for other customers on the belt. The act can also be seen as theft, as customers are charged by the number of plates they have at the end of their meal.
The restaurant reported the incident a day after.
On March 8th, the Aichi Prefectural Police precinct in Naka arrested Yoshino along with the 19-year-old man who recorded the video and a 15-year-old girl who was accompanying the two men when the video was recorded.
The charge the three face, “forced obstruction of business,” generally applies to individuals who participate in mischief and mayhem at a business. Reportedly, Yoshino has admitted to the charge stating, “What I did was inexcusable.”
A statement by Kura Sushi reads: “We appreciate the swift response by Naka Precinct. Such inconsiderate action shakes the foundations of the relationship of trust we have built with our customers, and we sincerely hope that broad knowledge that such actions are a crime will prevent others from engaging in such behavior.”
As a result of the rise of “sushi terrorism,” Kura Sushi chains will equip all of its restaurants with AI cameras that will catch troublemakers by spotting suspicious behavior. Such behavior, once detected, is sent as an alert to a Kura Sushi regional operation center, where a team reviews the incident and then contacts the chain where it occurred to follow up.
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