Wasabi terror: Japanese sushi restaurant apologises for giving too much wasabi to foreigners

A Japanese sushi restaurant has apologised after it admitted to serving excessive amounts of wasabi to its foreign customers, but denied any malice or discrimination behind the practice. The owners of the Ichibazushi restaurant chain admitted to occasionally putting as much as double the normal amount of the hot green condiment onto the sushi dishes of foreign eaters.

In a statement on their website, the company said the incident centres around one restaurant in the Minami district of Osaka city. It insisted the chefs decide to give the extra portions of wasabi to their foreign customers as they increasingly demanded more.

The owners of the Ichibazushi chain have apologised for "causing distress among customers who do not like wasabi".

Fujii Shokuhin said: "Because many of our overseas customers frequently order extra amounts of pickled ginger and wasabi, we gave them more without checking first. The result was unpleasant for some guests who aren't fans of wasabi. There was no discriminatory intent involved here."

The apology arrived after the chain was accused of "wasabi terror" on social media after news of the practice went viral on social media, reported Japan Times.

One tweet read: 'Wasabi terror': Apparently some sushi restaurants in Osaka have been trolling Korean tourists by adding extra wasabi to their orders.

A second added: "Racial harassment? Osaka sushi restaurant serves Korean tourists with inedible amount of #wasabi between fish and rice."