Photo/Illutration Conveyor-belt sushi chain Sushiro (Asahi Shimbun file photo)

OSAKA--A leading conveyor-belt sushi chain has dropped its lawsuit against a boy from Gifu Prefecture for damages of approximately 67 million yen ($467,500) for a prank-filled video that went viral in January. 

Akindo Sushiro Co., operator of Sushiro, has dropped its claim against the boy for playing damaging pranks in the video that included him licking a bottle of soy sauce at an outlet in Gifu.

Mediation between the two sides was successful at the Osaka District Court and the chain operator, based in Suita, Osaka Prefecture, withdrew the lawsuit on July 31, The Asahi Shimbun has learned. 

The video spread on social networking sites after another person filmed the boy spitting on sushi dishes on the conveyor belt and licking a bottle of soy sauce.

According to the complaint, Sushiro claimed that the boy's disturbing behavior "raised customers' suspicions about Sushiro's hygienic management" and caused a decrease in the number of customers and other damages.

The defendant generally admitted to the allegations, but countered that the causal relationship between the pranks and the damage claimed by Sushiro was unclear.

Meanwhile, on Aug. 1, the Gifu District Public Prosecutors Office said that it had referred the boy to the Gifu Family Court on the charge of destruction of property.

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