SNS Hygiene Terror Play Triggers Emergency in Japanese Food Service Industry
Amid serious hygiene terrorism issues at conveyor belt sushi restaurants in Japan recently, a major Japanese conveyor belt sushi company has decided to introduce AI-equipped cameras in all its stores.
According to Kyodo News and local public broadcaster NHK on the 2nd, 'Kurasushi,' a large conveyor belt sushi company in Japan, plans to use AI cameras to investigate suspicious customer behavior. Previously, a video circulated showing a customer picking up sushi with their hand, placing it back on the conveyor belt, and closing the cover.
The AI cameras will operate by notifying the headquarters in Hidaka City, Saitama Prefecture, and Kaizuka City, Osaka Prefecture, if they detect such abnormal behavior from customers. The company plans to report to the police if it determines from the footage that a customer has engaged in malicious acts.
Struggling with Ongoing 'Hygiene Terrorism'
Hygiene terrorism at restaurants in Japan has been relentless. Recently, a male student caused controversy by committing a 'disinfectant terror' on sushi that customers were eating. The student picked up a spray bottle placed on the table and sprayed it on sushi on the conveyor belt. The affected store is reported to be a Sushiro branch in Kumamoto Prefecture.
The video capturing this incident quickly spread through social networking services (SNS), and the student's identity was revealed. The student posted an apology on his SNS account. However, Japanese netizens have questioned the sincerity of the apology because the first letters of the characters in the apology message spell out "Honmani darui" (really boring).
Food & Life Companies (F&LC), which operates Sushiro, issued a statement on the 24th of last month saying, "We have completed a police investigation related to the SNS video," and "We plan to respond strictly in both civil and criminal matters."
Earlier, in January, Sushiro also suffered from hygiene terrorism. A video showing a male student smearing soy sauce containers, water cups, and sushi on the conveyor belt with saliva spread, causing the operator F&LC to suffer losses amounting to about 160 billion won in market capitalization. The student responsible for the controversy reportedly eventually dropped out of school.
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