Japan: Diners use own chopsticks in communal bowl, arrested

Japan, which is trying to contain what's being called 'Sushi terrorism' arrested two men who unhygienically ate pickled ginger from a container meant to be used by all customers. 'Sushi terrorism' refers to a recent trend in which errant customers contaminate dishes or food ordered by other customers or meant for all customers in Japan's sushi restaurants famous for their 'conveyor belts' that deliver food to those who order them, in a semi-automated system.

Toshihide Oka (34) and Ryu Shimazu (35) were arrested after they used their own, soiled chopsticks to eat pickled ginger from communal container when customers are supposed to use separate chopsticks to take toppings from containers meant for everyone. The incident took place in Yoshnoya, a beef-bowl chain, back in September. The restaurant in question is in Osaka.

The video of the prank had gone viral on social media.

Yoshinoya operates more than 1000 restaurants across Japan. The food chain alerted the police after it became aware of the prank via videos on social media.

“I wanted to make people laugh,” Oka told police, according to Kyodo news agency. “I asked [Shimazu] to do something funny, and he suddenly ate it. I shared it on social media because it was so funny. I wanted everyone to see it.”

Beef bowl or gyudon is a widely popular comfort food in Japan, which has pickled ginger as toppings. The popularity of the dish itself is enough for customers to turn their backs on restaurants which they think are serving contaminated food.

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