Akindo Sushiro () is a Japanese multinational

conveyor belt sushi , also called revolving sushi or rotation sushi, is a type of sushi restaurant common in Japan. In Australasia, it is also known as a sushi train. Plates serving the sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant ...

specialty store. It is headquartered in

Suita, Osaka is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 381,238 in 182,636 households, and a population density of 11,000 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . It is a suburban city of Osaka City and a p ...

History

Sushiro is currently the largest

company in turnover. It has more than 500 restaurants in Japan. The first overseas branch opened in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, South Korea. In 2017, Taiwan Sushiro Co., Ltd. was established. On 15 June 2018, a Sushiro shop was opened in

Taipei , nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country ...

. In August 2019, it opened a branch in

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

. In the same month, it opened its first branch in

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. In March 2021, the first Sushiro location in Thailand opened in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai language, Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estim ...

. In September 2021, it opened its first chain in mainland China, in

Guangzhou Guangzhou, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Canton or Kwangchow, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Guangdong Provinces of China, province in South China, southern China. Located on the Pearl River about nor ...

. In November 2023, Sushiro Indonesia began operations at its first branch in

Jakarta Jakarta (; , Betawi language, Betawi: ''Jakartè''), officially the Special Capital Region of Jakarta (; ''DKI Jakarta'') and formerly known as Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Batavia until 1949, is the capital and largest city of Indonesia and ...

. Subsequently in April 2024, it was reported that Sushiro has set up a local company in

Malaysia Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...

to consider its business expansion in the country, with the first outlet scheduled for open to public on 7 February 2025.

Incidents

Japan

A Japanese

Consumer Affairs Agency The is an administrative agency of the Cabinet Office of Japan responsible for consumer protection established on September 1, 2009. Under the law passed on December 10, 2022, the Consumer Affairs Agency now also has jurisdiction over the issue ...

report released in June 2022 accused Sushiro of false advertising, by claiming a "limited offer" of sea urchin and crab sushi while having no stock of these in most stores. On 29 January 2023, a video was published, consisting of a 17-year-old student in Sushiro Gifu Masakiten licking a soy sauce bottle and a cup before placing it back, sucking on his finger, and using it to touch sushi circling on the conveyor belts. This caused the stock price of Food & Life Companies, the parent company of Sushiro, to plummet. Its market value lost more than 16 billion yen. In August, Sushiro dropped its lawsuit against the student, saying that he has admitted his "responsibility". His attorneys argued that the decrease in customers could have been due to competition from other restaurants.

Taiwan

At the beginning of 2021, a two-day promotional event by Sushiro in

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

promised to serve free sushi to people with the word "salmon" in their name. This caused multiple Taiwanese people to change their names to include the word "salmon", an event the media dubbed " salmon chaos".

China

Multiple Sushiro chains in Guangzhou, China came under fire for

linguistic discrimination Linguistic discrimination (also called glottophobia, linguicism and languagism) is the unfair treatment of people based upon their use of language and the characteristics of their speech, such as their first language, their accent, the percei ...

after the chain's supervisors banned the

Cantonese language Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic languages, Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River ...

between employees on its online chat groups. Sushiro later apologised, amid local boycotts.

References

External links

Official website

Food&Life Companies official website
{{Food chains in Taiwan Sushi restaurants Restaurant chains in Japan Restaurant chains in Taiwan Multinational food companies Companies based in Osaka Prefecture Restaurants established in 1984 Japanese companies established in 1984 Retail companies established in 1984 Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Conveyor belt sushi restaurants