Japan Arrests Two Diners for Allegedly Misusing Chopsticks After ‘Sushi Terrorism’ Crackdown
The suspects have reportedly confessed to the accusations.

Hilo Kasai/Wikimedia Commons
Outrage spread across Japan earlier this year after a string of pranksters shared videos of themselves engaging in “sushi terrorism”—in which they messed with food in sushi conveyor belt restaurants before the dishes were eaten by others. Now two more diners have been arrested after allegedly using their chopsticks to eat pickled ginger out of a communal container at a restaurant in Osaka, according to the Guardian. Toshihide Oka, 34, and Ryu Shimazu, 35, have been charged with obstruction of business and destroying property over the incident last September because they didn’t follow the convention of using separate chopsticks to touch the condiment shared by all diners. The pair have reportedly confessed to the allegation after a clip of their prank went viral on social media. “I wanted to make people laugh,” Oka told cops, the Kyodo news agency reports. “I asked [Shimazu] to do something funny, and he suddenly ate it. I shared it on social media because it was so funny.”
Register below to read this article for free or subscribe
to unlock unlimited access to The Daily Beast.
Monthly
$1
First month then $5.99/month
Annual
$35
First year then $59.99/year
Premium
$79
First year then $119.99/year
*Substack access provided by the next business day, using your subscription email. Choosing the Premium plan constitutes your permission to share your subscription email with Substack and your agreement to Substack’s Privacy Policy.
Already have an account? Sign In
Looks like you already have a subscription!
You're all set!
Thanks for subscribing.