It’s almost like this piece of sushi is saying “Hi!” before it gets eaten.

Kaitenzushi (conveyor belt sushi) restaurants have come a long way. When they first appeared on the scene, they were often scoffed at as uncouth upstarts for attempting to make sushi a more accessible meal for families and other budget-conscious diners, but in time they won widespread acceptance and affection from the Japanese public.

Still, some bluebloods turn up their nose at the idea of kaitenzushi, claiming it’s not fresh enough for their standards. However, one branch of Sushiro, one of Japan’s most prominent kaitzenzushi chains, apparently offers extremely fresh seafood, as suggested by this video shared by Japanese Twitter user @shoumizo3446.

https://twitter.com/shoumizo3446/status/962601599884443654

During a recent meal at Sushiro, @shoumizo3446 ordered a plate of hokkigai, or surf clam, sushi. Specifically, he ordered iki hokkigai, with the iki portion referring to ikizukuri, where the sushi topping is prepared on the premises using live seafood. And sure enough, when his plate of hokkigai was sitting before him, the clam was still moving.

The video quickly racked up three million views, with several surprised commenters expressing their astonishment that the humble Sushiro was offering such fresh sushi. However, another contingent of Twitter users argued that the motion isn’t a sign of freshness, but simply reactions from surviving nerves that were not removed by failing to thoroughly follow orthodox sushi preparation protocol. This in turn prompted rebuttals that if the nerves are still surviving, the surf clam on the plate has to be pretty fresh.

Startling as his food’s kinetic activity may have been, @shoumizo3446 says that he ate the hokkigai, and that it was “extremely delicious,” No word on whether or not he ordered another plate, however.

Source: Twitter/@shoumizo3446 via Jin