Japan’s conveyor belt sushi or ‘sushi trains’ have been popular with both locals and tourists alike. But this famed eating experience is now being threatened due to a wave of viral pranks that are posing a serious risk to the health and safety of diners; not to mention, its extremely gross!
Discover our latest podcast
As reported by BBC, sushi-train establishments in Japan are being affected by what has been dubbed as ‘sushi terror,’ a series of viral prank videos that show people doing disgusting things to unchaperoned food served in these restaurants.
It started with a video of a man licking a communal soy sauce bottle, and since then, has given rise to a wave of similar pranks.
Read more:
⋙ Sushi: This is what could happen if you eat too much
Japanese police have made arrests related to sushi pranks
These sushi crimes has led to outrage from diners and restaurant owners. As reported by BBC, the spokesperson for the sushi chain targeted by one of these prank stated its dangers, saying,
Conveyor belt sushi is something we are proud of as part of Japanese culture. We want to make sure our customers can eat sushi delivered on the belt safely and comfortably.
The police have cracked down on the pranksters, arresting 3 people for obstruction of business under Japan's Penal Code. The perpetrators are a 21-year-old and two minors aged 19 and 15-years-old. All of them have accepted their guilt.
@todayonline Several videos dubbed "sushi terrorism" have emerged on social media in recent days and sparked an uproar in Japan, a country famed for its high standards of cleanliness. #trending#sushi#sushiterrorism#japan#japanesefood
♬ Serious incident, bad news, dark mood, criminal(1256000) - SAKUMAMATATA
Read more:
⋙ Shopper horrified after finding this crawling inside her broccoli
⋙ People horrified after learning where Parmesan cheese actually comes from
The wave of TikTok videos
The first video that surfaced showed a Japanese man dining at a sushi train restaurant. He then proceeds to lick the soy sauce bottle which is meant to be used communally by all the diners in the restaurants. And even rubs saliva on passing dishes.
This led to videos of other similar disgusting pranks being uploaded. One had a person putting their cigarette butt in a jar of pickles.
With Japan taking health and cleanliness extremely seriously, Japanese authorities are sending a clear message with the latest arrests, that no such unhygienic misdemeanours would be tolerated.
In the meantime, many sushi conveyor-belt restaurants have taken additional measures to protect diners including instituting alert systems, having diners collect their own utensils etc. Sadly, some restaurants have chosen to stop serving food on conveyor belt altogether.
Sources used:
BBC: ‘'Sushi terror' pranks outrage Japan as police make arrests’
TikTok: @todayonline
