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Tokyo/Hong Kong CNN —A Japanese sushi chain targeted in a spate of pranks that has sparked concern over hygiene has devised a digital conveyor belt to serve food to customers. The chain had been subject to a string of pranks dubbed “sushi terrorism” since the start of the year. Inspired by viral online videos, pranksters filmed themselves licking shared soy sauce bottles or tampering with food rotating on conveyor belts at the chain’s restaurants. Three Sushiro outlets have been fitted with the new digital conveyor belts. The student from western Hyogo prefecture said he would miss the convenience of being able to pick up sushi directly from the conveyor belts, if they are eventually phased out completely.

Persons: Hong Kong CNN —, —, Akindo, pranksters, Sushiro, ”, Alessio Procopio, Hideki Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Police, NHK Locations: Tokyo, Hong Kong, Osaka, Nagoya, Gifu, Japan, Hyogo

☆ Fukushima wastewater: Hong Kong poised to ban Japanese seafood over treated water
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-13 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

Hong Kong CNN —Hong Kong, one of the world’s biggest buyers of Japanese fish, says it will ban seafood imports from 10 prefectures in the country if Tokyo presses ahead with its plan to release treated radioactive water from Fukushima into the sea. Japanese food is hugely popular in Hong Kong, which has more than 2,000 Japanese restaurants. The move comes less than a week after Beijing announced a similar ban on Japanese seafood exports to mainland China, citing concerns over health and safety. Customers wait to get into Japanese sushi chain Sushiro in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, on July 13, 2023. The 10 prefectures facing a seafood ban are Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gumma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama, he said.

Persons: Tse Chin, Let’s, ” Tse, Chris Lau, Tse, ”, “, Rafael Grossi, Fumio Kishida, Grossi, Sandy Yu, Timothy Lo Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Beijing, International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, CNN, Hong, South, UN, HK Locations: Hong Kong, Tokyo, Fukushima, Japan, China, South Korea, United States, Causeway Bay, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gumma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano, Saitama, Hong, Causeway

☆ A sushi chain is suing a teen who licked a soy sauce bottle for nearly half a million dollars. His lawyer argues the teen never meant for footage of the incident to go viral.
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-10 | by ( Lina Batarags | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

In a viral video, the teen was licking a soy sauce bottle and touching sushi. It's not an isolated incident: Sushi terrorism is on the rise. Food and Life Companies, which owns Akindo Sushiro, is worth $363.8 billion. Akindo Sushiro operates 610 branches in Japan and employs more than 47,000 people across full-time and part-time roles. A spokesperson for Akindo Sushiro declined Bloomberg's request for comment.

Persons: —, Akindo Sushiro, Insider's Aaron McDade, Sushiro Organizations: Service, Food, Life Companies, NHK, Japan's, China Morning Post Locations: Japan, Osaka, China

CNN —A sushi chain is suing a high school student for 67 million yen ($480,000) after social media footage showed him licking his finger then touching a plate of sushi as it passed him on the conveyor belt, Japan’s public broadcaster has reported. The footage of the student also showed him licking a soy sauce bottle and a cup that he then placed back onto a communal pile. NHK said the student’s legal counsel wrote to the court in May asking it to dismiss the complaint. It said the student had admitted the act and regretted his actions, but added that there was no proof of a link between his actions and the drop in customers at the sushi chain. Akindo Sushiro Co. told CNN it would refrain from giving details of the case because it was under appeal.

Persons: Akindo Sushiro Organizations: CNN, NHK Locations: Gifu, Japan, Osaka

Previously, the pranks had mostly affected the country’s famous sushi conveyor belt restaurants, prompting questions about their future. A video shared on social media shows a man, believed to be Shimazu, vigorously eating the ginger. Besides Kura Sushi, two other such chains — Sushiro, owned by Food & Life Companies, and Hamazushi — previously told CNN they had suffered similar disruptions. But the latest food pranks, magnified by social media, have sparked fresh debate in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic. In recent weeks, some Japanese social media users have questioned whether conveyor belt sushi restaurants and other communal serving practices can continue as consumers demand more attention to cleanliness.

Hong Kong CNN —Police in central Japan have arrested three people for taking part in pranks at a sushi conveyor belt restaurant. We will continue to do our best to … grow the conveyor belt sushi culture that is dear to Japan globally.”According to public broadcaster NHK, police arrested a 21-year-old and two teenagers on suspicion of obstructing the restaurant’s operations. Besides Kura Sushi, two other kaiten chains — Sushiro, owned by Food & Life Companies, and Hamazushi — previously told CNN they had suffered similar disruptions. In recent weeks, some Japanese social media users have even started to question whether conveyor belt sushi restaurants have a future in the country as consumers demand more attention to cleanliness. Kura Sushi said it would use AI-operated cameras to monitor customers to see if they’re misbehaving.

☆ Japanese police arrest diners accused of 'sushi terrorism,' after videos of pranksters licking soy sauce bottles and rubbing saliva on conveyor-belt food goes viral
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( Tom Porter | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Japanese police arrested three diners accused of "sushi terrorism." Unhygienic pranks in Japan's conveyor belt sushi restaurants have become a viral sensation. In recent weeks, videos have spread on social media of diners in Japan's famed Kaiten-sushi restaurants performing unhygenic stunts. Japanese Police said they arrested a 21-year-old, a 19-year-old, and a 15-year-old after they allegedly performed "sushi terrorism" stunts at a restaurant in Nagoya, central Japan, on February 3. Kura Sushi is installing AI cameras in its restaurants to monitor for sushi terrorism, while Sushiro, another popular chain, is shuttering its conveyor belts system for unordered food.

☆ A Japanese conveyor-belt sushi chain will now be using AI-powered cameras to fight back against 'sushi terrorism': report
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Felise Seah | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

Conveyor-belt sushi chain Kura Sushi plans to crack down on food contamination by using AI-powered cameras. Insider's Aaron McDade reported last Friday that "sushi terrorism" has been plaguing Japan's conveyor belt restaurants. Kura Sushi, a conveyor belt sushi chain, said it's planning to deploy cameras powered by AI technology to track suspicious customer behavior, Nikkei Asia reported on Wednesday. Modifications are now underway which will help detect suspicious behavior and alert the restaurants' employees, the outlet reported. The sushi terror phenomenon gained momentum when a prank video taken at a Gifu city outpost of another sushi chain, Sushiro, went viral.

Shares in Sushiro’s owner, Food & Life Companies Co Ltd, fell 4.8% last Tuesday, as the video circulated. In a statement last Wednesday, Food & Life Companies said it had filed a police report against the customer, alleging damages. Two other leading conveyor belt sushi chains, Kura Sushi and Hamazushi, told CNN that they had experienced similar disruptions. In recent weeks, some Japanese social media users have questioned the role of conveyor belt sushi restaurants as consumers demand more attention to cleanliness. Sushiro, the Japanese sushi chain, is replacing real sushi with photographs of sushi on its conveyor belts.

☆ 'Sushi terrorism' is spreading as pranksters lick food, utensils in Japan's conveyor belt restaurants
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Conveyor belt sushi restaurants have been an affordable option across Japan for decades. The prank videos, often perpetrated by younger culprits, show customers at any one of Japan's many conveyor belt sushi restaurants taking things off the belt like utensils, soy sauce bottles, or food. He later licks a finger then at least one plate of sushi on the conveyor belt. The videos have prompted sushi restaurants to remind customers that they frequently clean and disinfect utensils, and will provide clean utensils upon request. "Kaiten-zushi," or conveyor belt sushi, restaurants have been a mainstay in Japan for decades as an affordable option.

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