Japanese chain sues viral food vandal for ‘sushi terrorism’

Sushiro, Japan’s biggest operator of revolving sushi restaurants is seeking ¥67m (£383,280) in damages from a diner who filmed himself licking a soy sauce bottle and wiping saliva on a slice of fish at one of its restaurants.

The teenager, who has not been named, is part of a wave of “sushi terrorism” that has impacted the country’s budget food industry.

The clip was uploaded in January and was shared widely in Japan, and is one of many who have uploaded similar videos at a range of sushi restaurants.

Akindo Sushiro Co., which runs the Sushiro restaurant chain, filed the suit at the Osaka District Court. The company claimed to have lost roughly ¥16bn after the video was released, due to a sharp drop in customers and a slump in stock of its parent company.

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Japanese broadcaster NHK said that the teenager’s legal counsel wrote to the court in May asking to dismiss the complaint. Citing the competitive budget sushi industry - worth an estimated ¥740bn - as the potential reason for Sushiro’s drop in customers. His legal counsel added that there was no proof of a link between his actions and the drop in customers.

The teenager admitted to his unhygienic actions and expressed remorse.

In March, after a 21-year-old allegedly drank from a communal soy sauce bottle at a restaurant run by Kura Sushi, police arrested three people on suspicion of forcible obstruction of business.

The wave of ‘sushi terrorism’’ has forced several chains to change how they operate in order to combat the pranks. With some halting its conveyor belts all together, while other chains made it harder for food to be tampered with by delving sushi via an “express lane”.

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