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Japan Social Networks Idle

Teenage Pranks at Japan's Restaurants Lead to AI-Powered Sushi Monitors, Arrests (restofworld.org) 69

Posted by EditorDavid from the food-fight dept.
Rest of World reports on viral teenage pranks at conveyor-belt sushi chain restaurants across Japan, which snowballed into a societal phenomenon that social media users and the Japanese press have named "sushi terrorism."

It began January 9th when a video showed a customer adding a pile of wasabi onto sushi on a conveyor belt. Another video shows a giggling teenager touching sushi on a conveyor belt at the sushi chain Sushiro after first licking that finger. The stock of the parent company that owns that sushi chain drops nearly 5%. It's not over. At a Nagoya branch of Kura Sushi, a 21-year-old customer grabs sushi from the conveyor belt, cramming it into his mouth and chasing it down with a swig from the communal soy sauce bottle. The incident is filmed by his two younger friends, one of whom posts the clip online. The same day, Sushiro's operating company announces it will limit conveyor belts and move to ordering by touch screen.
Concerns continued at other sushi chains. ("Kura Sushi says it's installing surveillance cameras equipped with AI to monitor customers' behavior and catch sushi terrorists. A day later, Choushimaru announces it will switch entirely to an iPad-based ordering system by April 26.") Sushiro also moves to ordering by touch screen and promises to limit conveyor belts.

The story's dramatic conclusion? Nagoya police arrest the 19-year-old man who allegedly posted the soy-sauce-swigging video from Kura Sushi, along with his two "co-conspirators." Nagoya police declare they are holding all three sushi terrorists on suspicion of "forcible obstruction of business." The crime would carry a maximum penalty of three years in prison, if they're convicted.
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Teenage Pranks at Japan's Restaurants Lead to AI-Powered Sushi Monitors, Arrests More

Teenage Pranks at Japan's Restaurants Lead to AI-Powered Sushi Monitors, Arrests

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  • Pandemic (Score:5, Interesting)

    by JBMcB ( 73720 ) on Saturday March 18, 2023 @01:41PM (#63380757)

    We're just coming off of a pandemic. You don't lick other people's food. Throw the book at them and make it *very* public. Show them in jail on their social media feeds.

    • It's kind of sad to see what's possibly the end of the classic conveyer-belt (or "rotating/revolving") sushi experience. Half the fun is just grabbing something that looks good on impulse. Social media + idiots ruin everything.

      • Yeah, but at least we'll still have the "order then send-by-conveyor" style to enjoy. And the food comes out fresher.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

        It's kind of sad to see what's possibly the end of the classic conveyer-belt (or "rotating/revolving") sushi experience. Half the fun is just grabbing something that looks good on impulse. Social media + idiots ruin everything.

        Yeah, they also ruined going to the supermarket to get a tub of ice cream, too.

        It's somewhat amazing to realize how much of our daily lives revolve around people behaving themselves in public. It's only been revealed through social media idiots how much we rely on the fact that in gen

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by Erioll ( 229536 )
          I dunno about the social media causation part, but I agree with your statement "how much we rely on the fact that in general, people are well behaved" because of my time in High School working in a Grocery Store. Everybody ends up there sooner or later, (especially in the late 90s, when alternatives were few) so you saw people of all kinds. Basically, 99% of people are fine. But boy do those other non-fine 1% make up for their lack of numbers. Yikes.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          In the early days of the pandemic, some guys in the UK went around supermarkets touching stuff and coughing on it. No idea what they were trying to achieve, they didn't appear to be filming it for social media or anything like that. Maybe they believed the crap about it being just like the flu and wanted everyone to get it.

          They were arrested but I don't know what happened after that.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by PPH ( 736903 )

        Sushi under glass. Ad a bit of Amazon Shop and Go technology. So if you lift the lid, you bought it.

      • Oh man yeah, it sucks. I absolutely adore going for sushi at those conveyer belt places. The local sushi joint near me has an elderly japanese guy running the kitchen and they make *spectacular* sushi. $30AUD all you can eat on tuesdays, so we often head down after work and just utterly cram ourselves.

        I really hope the tiktok kids dont break that for us.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Askmum ( 1038780 )
        Like noone has predicted this. Come on, you just know this is going to happen once the novelty wears off.

        And I take issue with calling this "a prank". This is vandalism.

    • Now if we could do something to the people who trash public restrooms.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by shanen ( 462549 )

      Also need to throw the book at the social media systems that allow such videos to go viral, but overall not a bad FP angle.

      But if we could only tax the stupidity...

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by jon3k ( 691256 )
      I've been following this in Japanese news for a month or two and I really cannot overstate how seriously the Japanese people are taking it. They actually called it "saliva terrorism [soranews24.com]".
      • You would take it just as serious if you were the victim. Cleaning up the whole place and sending them the bill would be the appropriate punishment.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by Luckyo ( 1726890 )

      This is Japan. Nail that sticks gets hammered. This will be a very short lived trend, and Japanese police have something like 99% conviction rates in court.

      To no one's surprise, most of the people doing this stuff were young men with typical markers of a Japanese delinquent, like dyed hair. For those not in the know, many of the better schools in Japan retain the policy of not allowing those sorts of things, down to actually demanding the rare Japanese natives who have the ginger mutation and so have reddis

      • Re: (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward
        hahahah, sure thing Luckyo.

    • > Show them in jail on their social media feeds.

      That's a very interesting proposal.

    • Re:Pandemic (Score:4)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Sunday March 19, 2023 @09:10AM (#63382333) Homepage Journal

      I'm not sure it's actually a crime in Japan. Just because they were arrested doesn't mean that they will be charged. People are only charged in Japan when the prosecutor is 99% certain they will win, but the police get involved more often than that. The hope is that arrests basically scare people straight.

      The restaurants could sue, but the Japanese legal system makes it difficult to collect, and these kids probably don't have that kind of money anyway. As such people mostly sue just to stop someone doing something, rather than for the money.

      While some punishment is appropriate, ruining their lives probably isn't. Aside from anything else, is it worth paying to keep them locked up and unproductive for a long time? The important thing is that this stops.

  • Weird.
    I'd have gone with attempted assault.

  • Cops coming down hard on this - good... (Score:3)

    by bb_matt ( 5705262 ) on Saturday March 18, 2023 @01:59PM (#63380789)

    ... but I'm sure these kids will likely just get a very big scare by the police and end up with a misdemeanour - however, the message will get out there.
    If you mess with people's food, they are going to mess with you.

    Kids have always done stupid things like this, the problem is now, it can go viral damn quick ... and it could also ... go viral ... I'll get my coat.

    • Re: (Score:3)

      by jon3k ( 691256 )
      This made national news [asahi.com] in Japan. People are extremely pissed about it. I don't think he's going to get away totally clean here. And the Japanese have an over 99% conviction rate [medium.com].
    • Naah. Japan has like 98% conviction rate. Once they take you in, you are going down, whether you did anything or not. And for these guys, the whole country is pissed at them. The po-po is going to want to do good in front of their superiors.

  • Orewa, koitsura sushiteroyarou ni ichi miri mo doujou nee zo.

  • Some subset of people - usually, but not always, young people - will do stupid things on video in the hopes of getting their 15 minutes of fame. Like when kids were filming themselves in grocery stores opening up ice cream containers and licking the ice cream, before putting things back.

    This sort of thing also happened well before social media existed; but I expect the possibility of much larger audiences makes the "allure" that much stronger for susceptible types than it used to be.

    • Like when kids were filming themselves in grocery stores opening up ice cream containers and licking the ice cream, before putting things back.

      I've always thought this story was odd as any ice cream I've ever bought has been sealed, either with a band around the lid or seal under the lid. People buying those containers would (hopefully) notice if they'd been removed, thought the outer band method is better for that *before* buying it...

      Anyway, I wonder how many of those kids have considered how'd they feel to discover that *their* food has been pre-licked ...

      • Kids, especially teenagers, are world renown for their excellent logic and forethought after all.
        Why not 30 years? REALLY teach those kids a lesson!

        And yet you can bankrupt an entire economy over and over again and people give you millions in bailouts! An excellent example of consequences for your actions.

        We want adults that lack logic and reasoning because they spend tons of money on shit they don't need (and conveniently vote against their own interests! BONUS!), then we expect those same people, as child

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by PPH ( 736903 )

          And yet you can bankrupt an entire economy over and over again

          If it's not a criminal act and shareholders elect you to another CEO position, that's on them. But once convicted of something like licking the sushi, I'd expect that their career prospects going forward would be limited to something like Walmart greeter. If that.

      • I will say that I now pull the lid off and check the seal before putting ice cream into my cart.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by skam240 ( 789197 )

        They come sealed now? I'll admit to not buying ice cream much anymore but I dont think any of the times that I have there's been any kind of safety seal.

  • Western disease (Score:5, Insightful)

    by nanoakron ( 234907 ) on Saturday March 18, 2023 @02:20PM (#63380835)

    So Japan now has asshole teenagers like the West, thinks to social media

    Yay!

    • If anime is accurate, Japan has always had a fair number of asshole teenagers. And also most of their teachers are evil.

      • But most schoolgirls are sluts.

        I ... heard... why is everyone moving away from me?

      • If anime is accurate, Japan has always had a fair number of asshole teenagers. And also most of their teachers are evil.

        I mean yeah I'd be an arsehole too if I had to compete with not only other guys but also tentacle monsters for girls affection.

  • ... plus a ban at that (and possibly other) restaurants. Enjoy your lifetime of McDonald's drive-up dining.

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward

      The delicious irony is now their food will potentially be spit on by surly employees.

  • I did a bad thing (Score:3)

    by Bodhammer ( 559311 ) on Saturday March 18, 2023 @02:53PM (#63380905)
    I loosened the top of a salt shaker one time, the salt EVEN HAD RICE IN IT!

    • Moe: "You should've thought of that before giving me the sugar-me-do."

    • I'm assuming you are aware that people often put rice into salt shakers to draw any moisture away from the salt.

      I will admit to, during my teenage years, pulling a heinous prank in a restaurant. Not one I thought up myself... but - I opened up a salt shaker and a pepper shaker, poured a fair bit out of each (onto a napkin), made two roughly 1-inch squares out of a napkin, put those squares in the salt and pepper shakers... and then replaced the previously-removed salt and pepper into their opposite containe

      • >I will admit to, during my teenage years, pulling a heinous prank in a restaurant. Not one I thought up myself... but - I opened up a salt shaker and a pepper shaker, poured a fair bit out of each (onto a napkin), made two roughly 1-inch squares out of a napkin, put those squares in the salt and pepper shakers... and then replaced the previously-removed salt and pepper into their opposite containers (on top of the napkin squares) and put the shaker lids back on. Fortunately I eventually gave up this lif

  • Sushi conveyor belts were always gross. You really wanna eat low-grade tuna that's been going around in a circle at room temperature for a half hour?

    • The green fuzz adds an interesting texture...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Cito ( 1725214 )

        It sucks in Japan they charge extra for the green fuzz... especially if it's moving.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by skam240 ( 789197 )

      Only if you're the picky sensitive sort, raw fish can absolutely be out of refrigeration for thirty minutes. I mean, how do you think fishermen were able to sell their fish before refrigeration? Pretty sure most folks werent cooking them up within 30 minutes of catch,

    • Sushi conveyor belts were always gross. You really wanna eat low-grade tuna that's been going around in a circle at room temperature for a half hour?

      Except there was nothing gross about sushi conveyors, and there's nothing at all wrong with eating fish that has been out for half an hour. Even the hyper overbearing FDA with regulations far stricter than most other western nations says fish can stay out for 2 hours, and that's before you consider the type of fish and the way it was prepared extending that further.

    • Lol. That's not how it works. Kura revolving sushi is some of the best sushi around here, and they have real wasabi.

  • And quite a few are assholes on top of that. Seems Japan is no exception to that rule.

  • So when checking the sushi-train it will tell us what it is.

    Fake tuna, fake salmon, fake sardine, ...

  • touching and/or licking fingers and touching food for other people is NOT a prank. It is cunt/asshole disgusting behaviour.

    • touching and/or licking fingers and touching food for other people is NOT a prank. It is cunt/asshole disgusting behaviour.

      Yep, a "prank" is something everybody can laugh about afterwards.

      This prank is a long way from that.

  • Cover the sushi plates with clear cloches. No need for high tech.

  • I heard one sat on the conveyor belt for a few seconds, and another even wrote "Sakamoto loves Hiroshi" in ball point pen on it!

    Of course if this was in America, the "pranks" would be taken to the next level x 10 and the restraunt owner would be talking to his insurance agent. :-\

  • If you want to play stupid games be prepared to win some stupid prizes.

  • Social media ... if it's not actually from an evil conspiracy, it should be. An evil conspiracy could hardly do better creating something horrible, if they tried.
  • Somewhere else, the story would be about teenagers pissing on the food. Or putting drugs in it. But Japan has a national emergency because of unhygienic behavior.
  • This is why we can't have nice things.

  • Public Flogging (Score:3)

    by sursurrus ( 796632 ) on Sunday March 19, 2023 @02:17PM (#63383097)

    A tad extreme but I believe a public flogging would be an appropriate punishment.

    Japan actually had a mass-murder / serial poisoning incident in the 1980s (IIRC) around a new Orange Soda promotion. The promotion was that sometimes when you bought a soda, an extra orange soda would drop down. So someone went around with poisoned orange soda and left them in vending machines. He or she was never caught, making them one of the most successful serial killers in history to never be caught.

    Because of the population density, prevalence of automated food service, honor system, etc... food tampering is some serious shit and a Western problem they really don't fucking need.

    Flog the fuckers with cat'o'nine tails and parade them through the streets while everyone records with their phones!

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