Japan chain shuts eateries after pests found in food

Sukiya, a major Japanese restaurant chain, recently announced that it will temporarily close its stores for deep cleaning. This comes after the company experienced two incidents of customers finding harmful organisms in their food, including a rat, raising public concerns.

Sukiya is well-known for its beef bowls. The company announced the temporary closure after a customer discovered an insect in their food. Sukiya admitted last weekend that a customer did find a rat in a bowl of miso soup in January of this year. After circulating on social media for weeks, the company was forced to confirm that the rodent was discovered "before consumption."

Sukiya has nearly 2,000 restaurants. The company stated that most stores will be closed from March 31 to April 4, with the aim of "preventing external intrusion and internal breeding of harmful organisms and pests." In a statement, Sukiya apologized for "the great inconvenience and concern caused by this."

The branch in Tottori City has already been temporarily closed. Sukiya stated that measures have been taken to address cracks in the building that may have led to contamination. The company subsequently announced that it would regularly inspect all stores for gaps and refrigerate garbage. Following the discovery of an insect (widely reported to be part or all of a cockroach) by a customer at a Tokyo store last Friday, the company took the more drastic measure of closing stores. The store manager has apologized to the customer and issued a refund.

Sukiya is a brand under Zensho Holdings, which owns multiple restaurant chains in Japan. Following the disclosure of the rat incident, Zensho Holdings' stock price fell last Monday, before recovering later in the week. The company's stock price will face renewed scrutiny after the announcement of the store closures on Saturday.