Nagoya udon restaurant owner arrested for throwing away leftover noodles in park

Don't know if it still happens, but a few years ago the manager of combini told me the chain collects certain out of date products and use it to make furikaki sprinkle to use in future products. Never eaten combini food after that.

That's no reason at all to stop eating combini food (and I question the veracity of the claim in the first place)...sounds more like urban myth. Also, you probably would never eat at a restaurant if I told you want sometimes happens behind the scenes.

Fact of the matter is virtually all food we eat is contaminated to some degree by insects , pests etc. Humans can eat a lot of products without harm.

Yada park. lol that's ironic.

I like animals but crows are pests. I've never seen a country with as many crows as Japan. The way people throw their garbage away makes this heaven for them.

SenseNotSoCommon at Nov. 02, 2016 - 11:00AM JST Why not just drive to the nearest homeless shelter and give the homeless there a good meal? Some dignity, please. These are leftovers from bowls that others have been slurping. They do food recycling in my area, apparently using it to generate energy. It sounds ridiculously expensive, however (the local city would be better off with a wind farm), and uptake is very low.

I have a friend who works at one of these recycling places. It's rather brilliant to be honest. There is a huge belt the size of a road, with all the recycled food at the end. Then a whole horde of homeless men who run on the belt trying to get the freshest food first. There is lots of competition because none of them truly know what delicious morsel they will be eating. This in turn turns over the generator which produces half of the power to Tokyo Tower.

Got to love Japanese innovation!

How you guys got idea of recycling leftover udon and fish cake from restaurants?

Recycling...first off, it IS done but not used for human nor animal consumption. Down here there is a hospital in Motobu that has a machine that processes the leftover food and mixed with sawdust or other ground up paper products to remove moisture, and heated to nearly 350C to 400C and mixed in the machine for about 12 hours or so, and fertilizer is made. All natural.

"Forcible obstruction of business" = "Doing something the authorities don't like." It's the Japanese version of disturbing the peace or resisting arrest.

Still has nothing to do with dumping rubbish, he neither disturbed the peace, nor resisted arrest. He SHOULD be charged with littering.

Chances were high that pigeons and crows may have eaten discarded udon noodles and fish cakes. But I wonder if gentlemen of the road would have eaten dirty udon.

To understand the full extent of this 'food waste' business, check out: Food Waste: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8xwLWb0lLY

Multiply what you see and hear by all first world nations and you'll quickly realise, "There's one serious problem here!"

The food goes to a randering plant and is pelletise into food for stockfeed. This is government regulated for contamination. In the north I depose of our waste carefully. Bears. Just this week I seen a big one close to town. Apparently It was a bad salmon run this year and with completing with humans for wild foods. ( berries ) . This is forcing bears into towns and villages in bigger numbers.

He could have given those to feed the homeless or to several food banks around his area.

Feeding the birds sounded fine to me. At least he did not say he was drunk.

Sorry but the charges make no sense to me. Just whose "business" is he forcibly obstructing? The park is not a business.

"Forcible obstruction of business" = "Doing something the authorities don't like." It's the Japanese version of disturbing the peace or resisting arrest.

Kamaboko is translated as fish cake. It is sliced and float in soup.

And, mostly consists of minced stingray (plus any other fish-like substance they can feed into the mincer).

so Udon noodles dumping gets you arrested but nuclear and chemical dumping gets you golden parachute... well done

How about giving it to those who are hungry? It would not only feed them but also give you the satisfaction of knowing you helped a fellow human being :).

sensei258NOV. 02, 2016 - 07:03AM JST

Yes, they have special trucks for food "recycling"

I have never heard "trucks for food recycling". I am pretty sure none of the municipalities in Tokyo has such a truck. Will you tell me where you live?

GoodlucktoyouNOV. 02, 2016 - 08:25AM JST

Don't know if it still happens, but a few years ago the manager of combini told me the chain collects certain out of date products and use it to make furikaki sprinkle to use in future products.

Again, never heard of. Will you tell me the name of the combini chain? I will make a phone call to ask if they did or they do. If they did not and they do not, I am sure you have a chance to prove yourself in a court where the combini demands you the damage for their reputation.

Some may take jokes seriously.

@Peter - interesting to see another person aware of the potential SHTF scenario. You are correct. If others have been slurping then maybe not suitable for a shelter but for those on the street this could be a good meal.

"forcible obstruction of business "?

Just put signs in parks, or where homeless congregate, informing them of where they can find the waste recepticle the food is in aling with the time it's available. This is how they normally eat anyways.

Believe me, when the S@#t hits the fan, these people will fair much better than most. The meek will truely inherit the earth, as they are better prepared!

Some dignity, please. These are leftovers from bowls that others have been slurping.

mate, when you're hungry, dignity takes a backseat.

Kamaboko is translated as fish cake. It is sliced and float in soup.

Why not just drive to the nearest homeless shelter and give the homeless there a good meal?

Some dignity, please. These are leftovers from bowls that others have been slurping.

They do food recycling in my area, apparently using it to generate energy. It sounds ridiculously expensive, however (the local city would be better off with a wind farm), and uptake is very low.

Why not just drive to the nearest homeless shelter and give the homeless there a good meal?

If its not a big deal then why they arrested him? If really not big deal then they can warn and left him. I m not sure about government rule but the thing is government is only collecting tax and other unwanted fees from the people of Japan.

Most of the discarded udon I've seen in my time were already partially digested...

Udon and fish cake? Doesn`t sound like food to me.

Don't know if it still happens, but a few years ago the manager of combini told me the chain collects certain out of date products and use it to make furikaki sprinkle to use in future products. Never eaten combini food after that.

Not recycling fee. leftover food from restaurant should go to trash. @sense and Yubaru. How you guys got idea of recycling leftover udon and fish cake from restaurants?

“It may not sound like a big deal, but discarding leftover food in this manner causes unsanitary conditions.”

Nah, It's not a big deal at all! it's just illegal dumping of rubbish, which is done everywhere in Japan. Head to any beach or riverside and you'll see heaps of it. Or, head up to mount Fuji to see 'the mountain of garbage'. You only have to go to your local convenience store to see garbage littering the car park, left by donkey's butts that are too lazy to walk the ten meters to the trash cans.

"sensei258NOV. 02, 2016 - 07:23AM JST Still, I'd like to know where the recycled food goes."

Hmmm... maybe we don't really want to know...

Still, I'd like to know where the recycled food goes.

According to police, at around 5 a.m. on Oct 31, Yukinori Murakami was arrested on a charge of forcible obstruction of business after being caught discarding the leftover food in Yada Park in Meito Ward, Fuji TV reported.

Sorry but the charges make no sense to me. Just whose "business" is he forcibly obstructing? The park is not a business.

Sounds more like a case of littering.

they have special trucks for food "recycling" but I'm not sure what happens to the food once it's picked up.

As a business he would have to contract with these special services, and they cost a lot of money. Used to be a time when leftovers were picked up for free and used as animal feed, particularly pigs, but not now-a-days as the leftovers are unhealthy for the pigs and ranchers wont use the leftovers anymore.

He could just as easily put it out with his regular trash, just like the rest of us. It's considered "nama-gomi" and it's probably just a pain the arse for him to deal with it, so he dumped it.

Definitely didn't use his noodle.

Didn't want to pay the recycling fees, I guess. Yes, they have special trucks for food "recycling" but I'm not sure what happens to the food once it's picked up.