Sushi belt purveyor sues teenage viral vandal

Suhiro filed the suit seeking 67 million yen (around $480,000) in compensation at a local court in the city of Osaka, court documents showed on Thursday, according to the Bangkok Post.

According to the complaint, the boy, whose name has been withheld, licked an open soy sauce bottle and an unused teacup before touching a sushi plate on the running conveyor belt with his saliva-covered finger during a visit to a Sushiro outlet on January 3.

He went even further when he uploaded a 45-second video of the process to a social media account on January 29.

The boy’s lawyer said his client could not be held responsible for Sushiro’s losses, citing the robust sushi restaurant rivalries in the country and the fact that the video was only intended to be share among the boy’s circle of friends, instead of publicly.

Established in 1984, Sushiro is now serving diner throughout Japan as well as internationally in China, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand.