Police have arrested three people on suspicion of public nuisance crimes, such as licking a tabletop soy sauce bottle at a sushi restaurant and posting a video of the act online.

The move, made public by the police on Wednesday, is believed to be the first instance of a customer being arrested for such behavior, deemed unhygienic and a form of harassment, following revelations that similar acts have taken place at many eateries in Japan since earlier this year.

The police allege Ryoga Yoshino, 21, licked a tabletop soy sauce bottle shared by other customers at a Kura Sushi Inc. conveyor-belt sushi restaurant in Nagoya on the evening of Feb. 3.

An outlet of Kura Sushi Inc.'s sushi restaurant chain in Nagoya, central Japan, is pictured on March 8, 2023, after police arrested three people on suspicion of licking a shared soy sauce bottle there and posting a video of the act online. (Kyodo)

Yoshino and two minors aged 19 and 15 were also involved in sharing a 10-second clip online that captured the act, the police said, noting it constituted obstruction of business under the Penal Code, as the incident meant Kura Sushi had to handle complaints and clean up.

All three suspects admitted to having been involved in the wrongdoing, the police said, adding that none of them have a fixed abode.

One of the three suspects told police they committed the act because they believed they had to do something funny, adding Yoshino did not directly touch the spout of the soy sauce bottle with his mouth, an investigative source said.

The three suspects are believed to have become acquainted with each other through social media, the source said.


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