By TOMOHIKO KANEKO/ Staff Writer
September 28, 2023 at 15:17 JST
Conveyor-belt sushi chain Sushiro has introduced a large touchscreen to virtually showcase its dishes instead of having plates of actual sushi parading past diners, the chain’s operator announced on Sept. 27.
Dubbed Digital SushiroVision, or Digiro, a monitor at each table and counter seat shows animated images of sushi dishes riding around on the conveyor belt that can be ordered.
“Digital technology has helped us create a new way to enjoy conveyor-belt sushi,” said Kohei Nii, the president of Akindo Sushiro Co., the chain’s operator. “Digiro offers a happier and more entertaining dining experience.”
The move comes after customers became more concerned about hygiene following the COVID-19 pandemic, Nii added.
Customers can touch the screen to select what they want and their orders will arrive via the conveyor belt. Digiro also features family-friendly games that come with prizes.
The screen, about 50 centimeters long and 150 cm wide, has been rolled out at the chain’s Shinjuku Nishiguchi outlet in Tokyo and the Esaka outlet in Suita, Osaka Prefecture. It will be available at the Tenpaku Yakiyama outlet in Nagoya in October.
Sushiro made headlines earlier this year for suing a teenager who posted a viral video online that showed him committing unhygienic acts at one of the chain’s outlets, such as putting saliva on a dish of sushi before it was served to another customer.
However, the launch of Digiro is not a direct response to the incident, but part of the chain’s broader hygienic and labor-saving measures, Nii said in an earlier interview with The Asahi Shimbun.
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A Sushiro employee shows how to order through a newly launched touchscreen at the sushi chain’s Shinjuku Nishiguchi outlet in Tokyo on Sept. 27. (Tetsuro Takehana)
