The Endamame Is Near

The world watched in horror on March 11, as a devastating earthquake and tsunami slammed Sendai City in the Miyagi Prefecture on the East coast of Japan. Though it was in itself a tragedy on a nearly unfathomable scale, who would have thought that the disaster would instigate a chain of dire consequences that could be felt all over the world—our own city included?

With the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant crippled from the disaster, radiation has been spilling into the surrounding area, raising fears for public safety. Within the country, even residents in Tokyo—more than 220 kilometers from the accident site—have been told not to drink tap water, and fruits and vegetables produced near the affected regions have been subject to export bans. Though engineers working furiously around the clock were able to stop the leakage at the plant on April 6, nearly a month into the incident, the situation is still not under control—as of April 12, Japan had raised its nuclear crisis level to the highest on the scale (from level 5 to 7), matched only by Chernobyl in 1986—and according to experts, the repercussions will be with us for some time.

On March 23, two weeks after the earthquake, the Hong Kong government decided to impose a ban on dairy products, vegetables, fruits, and selected meats and seafood from the Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma and Fukushima prefectures—regions close to the disaster site—after samples of imported turnips and spinach were found to contain radioactive iodine-131 at levels up to 10 times over the international safety standards. But the move only served to echo public sentiment, as diners steered clear of Japanese restaurants citywide.

No More Sushi?
Catering sector legislator Tommy Cheung Yu-yan sees much gloom ahead for the restaurant industry. “Almost all sushi and sashimi restaurants have seen business fall 30 to 70 percent… and it doesn’t seem to be stopping. I don’t think this is a short term problem,” he says.

According to Cheung, there are around 1,200 Japanese restaurants in the city, and close to 80 percent of those are sushi and sashimi restaurants—which have also been the hardest hit. In particular, top-tier restaurants that ship daily fresh produce from Tokyo and charge $1,200 to $1,800 per head are suffering more than others. Cheung sums up his take on the population’s general sentiment. “Food experts are telling us: [The radiation in the food] is not going to kill you. But people are thinking: why are we even taking chances?”

Following media reports—such as one by the South China Morning Post (“25 pc of city’s Japanese restaurants may go bust,” April 4)— predicting as many as one in four Japanese restaurants will close as a direct result of radiation fears, Yaegiku Japanese Cuisine restaurant in iSQUARE Tsim Sha Tsui has been one of the first to confirm the trend. The restaurant closed on April 1 after reporting an 80 percent drop in business and losses of close to $1 million. Owner Yeung koon-yat says the restaurant will be temporarily closed until May, when it reinvents itself as a hopefully better-faring western fine-dining venue.

Meanwhile, Kabushikigaisha Group’s food systems assistant manager, Ani Wan, says restaurants under the group, including Gyu-kaku and Moumou Club Shabu Shabu and Sukiyaki, have seen revenues slide by 10 percent. They’ve also had to stop importing items such as crabmeat from Japan.

Yagura, a Japanese tempura and izakaya restaurant owned by Eaton Smart Hotel Hong Kong, confirms an even more drastic loss. “The business of Yagura has been affected quite dramatically, with revenues down by around 55 percent,” says John Dick, the hotel group’s managing director. “We used to rely on food supply from Japan, but since the disaster, we’ve had to source products from many other areas such as Australia, New Zealand and Southeast Asia.”