Two chefs will also come to your place of choosing, as long as it’s big enough.

Kaiten sushi or “rotating sushi” is one of the simple pleasures of life in Japan. Perfect for the indecisive, customers simply sit at their table as a parade of small-plate offerings float by on a conveyor belt running through the entire floor.

But even at the best of times, such a serving style was questionable with regards to hygiene and heavily relied on the trust of your fellow diners not to monkey with the food. And although these eateries are open now, many people are still hesitant to take the chance.

So on 2 September, one of Japan’s biggest kaiten sushi chains, Kappa Sushi, began a home conveyor belt service in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Saitama, and Chiba prefectures. Called Shuccho Kaiten Sushi Service (Business Trip Rotating Sushi Service), it allows anyone to order a conveyor belt, plates, sushi rice & toppings, two sushi chefs, and more for two hours at a location of their choosing, but with two big catches.

The first is that it better be a big location, because the conveyor belt alone is about 40 centimeters (1.3 feet) wide and ranges from 200 to 500 centimeters (6.6 to 16.4 feet) long. In addition to that, the chefs will need about 180 by 300 centimeters (58 square feet) of space to work their magic.

▼ The slogan is “Kaiten Sushi at your home!” but I wonder how many Japanese people’s homes in the Tokyo area are big enough for all that…

The second catch is the price, which, as you might expect for a home conveyor belt and sushi chef delivery service, is rather steep. The Standard Plan costs 80,000 yen (US$754) which offers enough sushi to feed 10 people 15 pieces each with 15 different types of toppings to choose from.

For 90,000 yen ($848) there’s the Special Plan that offers more variety in toppings and also dishes out more sushi, enough to feed 20 pieces to each member of a group of ten. And beyond that is the Customize Plan which is negotiated but can include a “tuna dismantling show“ where the chefs carve a up a whole tuna in front of the crowd.

That might be a little too intense for most people’s living rooms, which again made us question the service’s slogan. Also, the fact that Kappa Sushi describes its sushi quantities in terms of “ten people” seems to suggest this isn’t for lonely sushi-loving bachelors in a cramped downtown Tokyo apartment.

Take our writer Seiji Nakazawa for example, although he is technically married now, he’s still a loner at heart with a very small circle of friends.

▼ Seiji at the 2016 office Christmas party, which only Seiji attended

So, he contacted Kappa Sushi and asked if it was okay for a single person to order the Shuccho Kaiten Sushi Service. Here is their reply:

“One person can order this service. However, the price and quantity of sushi cannot be adjusted, everything listed in the plan will be delivered.”
(Kappa Sushi rep)

It makes sense that they wouldn’t turn their nose up at any single person willing to part with their money in such a way, but now the question is whether our company is willing to fund a singleton sushi party for Seiji.

We’re not exactly known for using our money wisely, so stay tuned and find out if we can figure out how to fit a sushi restaurant in Seiji’s apartment.

Source: Kappa Sushi
Images: ©SoraNews24, Kappa Sushi press release
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