Conveyor belt sushi

thumb|300px|Conveyor belt sushi at [[Bluewater Shopping Centre in England]]

, 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 and moves past every table, counter and seat. If a small quantity of food is ordered, it is placed on the conveyor belt but marked so other customers know that this dish was ordered by someone; usually the plate with the sushi sits on a labeled cylindrical stand to indicate that this is a special order. Some restaurants use a secondary belt for this purpose, or have an automated delivery tray that will send a special order directly to where a customer is sitting. For large orders the dishes may also be brought to the customer by an attendant.

Condiments and utensils are usually found near the seats, such as wasabi, pickled ginger, chopsticks, soy sauce, and small dishes for the soy sauce. Self-served tea and ice water is usually complimentary, with cups stacked on a shelf above the conveyor belt and teabags or green tea powder in a storage container on the table.

Conveyor operation

thumb|left|300px|A sushi [[conveyor chain articulating around a tight corner]]

thumb|R Roller type (TORP) plastic top chain by [[Tsubakimoto Chain Co.|Tsubaki frequently used in conveyor sushi restaurants]]

The sushi conveyor consists of a thin, narrow conveyor designed to fit within the tight confines of a sushi restaurant. Nearly 100% of sushi conveyors made in Japan are manufactured in Ishikawa Prefecture.

The standard conveyor uses a specially designed plastic crescent top chain. The chain actually runs on its side (on its link plates), with the crescent plate attached to the other side plate by means of a snap pin. This gives the chain a very small bending radius and allows the conveyor to make the tight corners found in most conveyor belt sushi restaurants. Further, the horizontal layout means that there is no return side of the chain, which not only eliminates chain sag and sliding with the roller, but allows for a much shallower design.

Major chain companies can offer different pin materials (stainless steel being common), plate shapes, surface treatments, and so on depending on the individual application. Many customers are also turning to sushi conveyor manufacturers for custom-designed plates to go with their conveyor. Innovations in sushi conveyors include chainless designs for quieter operation and design/layout freedom, multi-tiered conveyors to allow for more sushi to be displayed in limited spaces, and high speed lanes for custom orders.

History

thumb|right|300px|A conveyor belt sushi restaurant in [[Pearl District, Portland, Oregon]]

Conveyor belt sushi was invented by Yoshiaki Shiraishi (1914–2001), who had problems staffing his small sushi restaurant and had difficulties managing the restaurant by himself. He got the idea of a conveyor belt sushi after watching beer bottles on a conveyor belt in an Asahi brewery. After five years of development, including the design of the conveyor belt and the speed of operations, Shiraishi opened the first conveyor belt sushi Mawaru Genroku Sushi in Higashiosaka in 1958, eventually expanding to up to 250 restaurants all over Japan. However, by 2001, his company had just 11 restaurants. Shiraishi also invented a robotic sushi, served by robots, but this idea has not had commercial success.

Initially in a conveyor belt sushi restaurant, all customers were seated to face the conveyor belt, but this was not popular with groups. Subsequently, tables were added at right angles to the conveyor belt, allowing up to six people to sit at one table. This also reduced the length of conveyor belt necessary to serve a larger number of people.

A conveyor belt sushi boom started in 1970 after a conveyor belt sushi restaurant served sushi at the Osaka World Expo.

In 2023, some patrons were arrested for deliberately performing unhygienic acts such as licking or drinking from items passing in front of them towards other customers. These acts, dubbed "sushi terrorism", were performed as pranks with the video being shared online. Asked about this, Agriculture Minister Tetsuro Nomura said: “It is very unfortunate that such an act took place, as it had a significant impact on food industry operators and the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries will pay special attention to the situation in the future.”

Conveyor belt sushi

Conveyor operation

History

See also

References