Owners of a popular restaurant in Japan have been arrested after nearly 80 diners reported coming down with food poisoning after eating food from the restaurant. Kiichi, a restaurant in Japan's Osaka Prefecture, is run by family members Hirokazu Kitano, 69, his wife Noriko, 68, and son Hirotoshi, 41. All three of them were arrested on June 16, 2025. Authorities suspect that they violated the Food Sanitation Act, which requires food establishments to implement basic hygiene and safety standards, reported the New York Post.
In early February, Kiichi was ordered to suspend its services after 33 customers reported symptoms aligning with food poisoning and norovirus, including diarrhoea, stomach pain and vomiting.
As per reports, despite the order to suspend the services, the restaurant allegedly continued to operate behind closed doors. They sold 11 traditional Japanese lunch box meals on February 16, 2025, that were contaminated with pathogenic microorganisms, according to the investigators.
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Norovirus was detected in the restaurant's food for a second time, and 23 diners reported food poisoning in February. The restaurant's suspension was extended through March. Police suspected that the food poisoning and norovirus cases were a result of poor management.
The restaurant finally admitted to not enforcing strong hygiene practices. In late March, it wrote on its website, "We take this series of incidents seriously and deeply regret it. We will work to ensure food safety by strengthening and thoroughly implementing our hygiene management system to prevent a recurrence."
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Kiichi was honoured with a Michelin star for the Kansai region during the 2010s, but the restaurant was later removed from the prestigious list.