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Bites of sushi passing the guests on a conveyor belt: Kaiten-zushi has been part of everyday life in Japan since 1958.

Since the beginning of this year, however, the enthusiasm for this concept has waned rapidly: the reason for this is the so-called “sushi terrorists”, who enjoy licking the goods and putting them back on the conveyor belt.

The video, in which a student licks off a bowl and a soy bottle, went viral on social media in January:

The phenomenon quickly found a large audience and other imitators under the hashtags #sushitero and #sushiterrorism. Affecting Affected Restaurant Chains: As CNN reported in February, shares of Sushiro’s owner, Food & Life Companies Co Ltd., fell 4.8% when the video went viral.

Now the operator of the Sushiro restaurant chain, Akdino Sushiro Co., has filed a lawsuit in Osaka District Court against the boy in the video. The pleasure should cost him a whopping 67 million yen (430,000 francs).

Millions lost to sushi terrorists

The company claims it made a loss of about 16 billion yen (CHF 104 million) after the video was released. The reason for this was the sharp drop in the number of customers and the slump in the shares of the parent company.

According to Japanese broadcaster NHK, the boy’s lawyer has asked the court to dismiss the lawsuit. The boy has admitted his actions and regrets his actions, he justifies his request. In addition, there is no evidence for a connection between the video and the decline of customers at the sushi chain. This could also be due to the tough competition in the industry, the legal counsel continued.

Akindo Sushiro Co. told CNN it would not give details of the case because it is under appeal. However, the company added that it takes behavior that undermines customer trust very seriously. They are therefore prepared to take strict measures on both criminal and civil grounds. (Sat)