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Visiting a ramen restaurant in Japan isn’t just a flavor experience, but an aromatic one too. Chefs generally make their broth on-site, cooking behind the counter of cramped interiors, which means that customers are enveloped in the scent of soy, miso, or pork or fish stock.
But there was a different smell in the air at Antaga Taisho, a ramen restaurant in Osaka’s Taisho Ward: the smell of pot.
During a search of the premises in September, police discovered a total of 11.2 grams of marijuana belonging to the restaurant’s owner, Yosuke Kajibayashi, which were stored in plastic bags both in his wallet and in a cardboard box inside the restaurant. During questioning, the 32-year-old restaurateur told police “I can’t smoke it at home because my family is there, so I kept it at the restaurant and smoked after work.”
The police also say they have statements from customers claiming that the restaurant’s interior smelled like marijuana, although it’s not specified whether such reports were the basis for the initial search of the restaurant or instead came to light during the course of an already in-progress investigation.
Kajibayashi said that he has been using marijuana since “five or six years ago,” and insists that he did not provide his customers with the drug. Nevertheless, the authorities are pressing charges, in keeping with Japan’s staunch anti-drug policies.
Antaga Taisho’s page on user-based restaurant review site Tabelog lists it as being closed indefinitely in the wake of the incident.
Sources: Yahoo! Japan News/8 Kan Tele via Jin, Sankei West, Tabelog
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© SoraNews24
13 Comments
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mayonaiseinstrument
not so worse? intaking cannabis has killed zero people.... it's virtually impossible to overdose (you'd have to smoke like 100 pounds within 24 hours or something like that). while alcohol poisoning kills millions a year. i think its safe to say alcohol is a LOT worse than cannabis. in fact, compared to alcohol cannabis is like... virtually harmless?
and alchohol can be easily purchased at any conbini (they don't even check your card! just tell you to press the button!) in any amount. while cannabis is still illegal. it makes absolutely no sense.
WA4TKG
How about this: ? Go back to the laws that were "Japanese" BEFORE WWII.
That would make a LOT of things LEGAL again (weed), and who know WHAT else.
Of course JapanTobacco (tm) won't like THAT at ALL...so THAT'LL never happen.
Frankie Wilde
Sounds to me like the guy just needed a little Ahhhmen after the Rahhmen
oyatoi
This unfortunate schmuck, with otherwise no blemishes, a family man, taxpayer, and provider of a useful service to hungry salarymen and others gets pinged. Meanwhile, Dentsu, corporate behemoth and serial abuser (is murderer too strong a word?) of its workers, gets fined a desultory 50万円 for far far worse.
Goodlucktoyou
if it is meth, throw the book at him, but private use of a not so worse drug than alcohol to relax?
FizzBit
Was driving on the highway to the in laws in August and saw some young adults blasting away on a pipe. Not a care in the world. Don't know if it was the devils weed but they weren't tweaking. My guess they were going to a music festival. Pot seems to be coming more popular, or TPTB have decided to make sure these trifle offenses make the news.
eye
The Munchies
Strangerland
Archaic.
Disillusioned
That's how he got busted. Never keep drugs in your wallet! That's the first place the flops look!
Joel Tucci
Oh good, we had a guy who worked hard and paid taxes and because he did something that hurt no one my tax money gets to go to paying for his imprisonment, great use of funds Japan
buffalo
Loose lips sink ships.
Yubaru
He's been smoking for 5 or 6 years and it just comes to light now? Sounds to me like one of his customers wasnt happy with the service or food or something!
borscht
How do the customers know what pot smells like?