A Japanese court found a 21-year-old man guilty of obstructing business operations by posting a viral online video in which he licked a soy sauce bottle at a conveyor-belt sushi restaurant in Nagoya back in February. The Nagoya District Court sentenced Ryoga Yoshino to three years in prison on Friday, October 14 with the sentence suspended for five years.
The 45-second viral video created a buzz in Japan and contributed to the emergence of the term “sushi terrorism” to describe unhygienic behavior in such restaurants. Typically, food is served on plates. The restaurant chain filed a lawsuit claiming that the video affected their business resulting in a loss of ¥90 million (approximately 2.2 million dirhams/ 34 million pesos).
During the trial, Yoshino expressed regret for his actions, saying, “I did it to satisfy my desire for recognition and wanted to be popular. What I did was very stupid.” His defense had requested a suspended sentence, citing his remorse.
The court’s decision stated that Yoshino, in collaboration with another individual who was arrested in connection with the incident on February 3, disrupted the business at a Kura Sushi Inc. branch in central Japan by recording the act of licking the soy sauce bottle and sharing it on social media.
The other individual received probation as part of their sentencing.
