So-called “sushi terrorists” have impacted restaurants serving the Japanese delicacy using prank videos as weapon.
One of them, a teenager, caused serious damage to one business through a tweet that was viewed 40 million times. Shares of the company that owns the Sushiro restaurant chain fell 5 percent last week as he shot the viral video at its branch in the central Japanese city of Gifu, according to Agence France-Presse.
Copycats of the prank video harmed other sushi conveyor belt restos turning away customers.
The Sushiro prank video shows the teenager licking the top of a communal soy sauce bottle and the rim of a teacup before placing them back on a shelf, according to AFP. It also shows him licking his finger and touching a piece of sushi as it went past on the conveyor belt.
Other sushi terror videos show customers at different chains putting wasabi on pieces of sushi moving in conveyor belts or licking the spoon in a communal green tea powder container.
Fearing loss of their customers, the sushi restaurants fought back. Sushiro filed a formal police complaint against the teen who made the viral video despite his apology. It also replaced all soy sauce bottles and cleaned all cups in affected stores.
At the Gifu branch and others nearby, customers will now take utensils and condiments to their tables from a serving point, and nationwide, diners will be able to request disinfected tableware.
Hama-sushi and Kura Sushi will also take legal action against pranksters and plan to install cameras above conveyor belts to monitor customers, Jiji Press agency reported.
Helping them survive the social media smear drive are diehard customers who are not scared of the saliva-tainted condiments and utensils or touched sushi. Photographer Tetsuya Haneda and singer Yuya Tegoshi told AFP that sushi terrorism favors them as few customers mean they don’t need to wait in line to eat at their favorite sushi restaurant.
WJG WITH AFP @tribunephl_wjg