Japan’s Kura Sushi Unveils Osaka-Kansai Expo Restaurant Layout; Restaurant Has 135-Meter-Long Conveyer-belt Food Lane

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:23 JST, September 15, 2024

Kura Sushi Inc. has announced the layout of its restaurant, which will feature a 135-meter-long conveyer-belt food lane, at the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025.

The sushi served will use fish that have been efficiently grown using an artificial intelligence program and the restaurant’s exterior walls will be made of recycled 336,000 shells that are usually thrown out.

The restaurant will demonstrate how the fisheries industry should become sustainable by using advanced technologies and promote the conveyor-belt sushi service that originated in Japan.

It will be able to seat 338 customers, the largest among the restaurants run by the company. The length of the conveyor-belt lane carrying plates of sushi will be about 135 meters, which is also the longest within the restaurant chain.

The company will also introduce an AI system allowing customers to reach their seats and pay their bills without contacting employees.

Conveyer-belt sushi restaurants were introduced at the 1970 Osaka Expo. Sushi restaurants that used this system, including Kura Sushi, spread across the nation.

“We want to provide enjoyable eating experiences to people all over the world through conveyor-belt sushi and call for the preservation of precious marine resources,” said Hiroyuki Okamoto, a board director of Kura Sushi, at a press conference in Osaka.