Japan's "Kill Bill" restaurant operator defies new virus curbs (updated)
09/07/2021 08:57
(Recast, adds comment, detail)
By Tetsushi Kajimoto and Rocky Swift
TOKYO, July 9 (Reuters) - Japan's "Kill Bill" restaurant
operator said on Friday he will defy new coronavirus virus
restrictions and open as normal despite a government suggestion
that businesses that break the rules could face new financial
penalties.
The government declared a fourth coronavirus state of
emergency for the capital, Tokyo, and nearby areas on Thursday
just two weeks before the Olympic Games are due to begin. Given
the persistent infections, spectators won't be allowed in any
Olympic venues in greater Tokyo.
The coronavirus curbs, to run until Aug. 22., include asking
restaurants to close early and stop serving alcohol in exchange
for a government subsidy.
Kozo Hasegawa, president of Global-Dining Inc 7625.T ,
which runs 43 restaurants including one that inspired a bloody
fight scene in the movie "Kill Bill: Volume I", said he would
not obey the rules.
"We will continue our ordinary operations all through this
new state of emergency with alcoholic beverages served,"
Hasegawa said in a message to Reuters.
Economy Minister Yasutoshi Nishimura, who is also in charge
of the pandemic response, suggested late on Thursday he would
ask banks to put pressure on eateries that do not comply with
the stricter measures.
"We will respond by imposing penalties and other means
against those who refuse to comply," Nishimura said.
On Friday, after the words "financial institutions",
"pressure", "Minister Nishimura" became top trending topics on
Twitter in Japan, Nishimura said he did not mean to imply that
loans should be withheld from such businesses.
Nevertheless, Hasegawa said he was shocked by the minister's
remarks.
"The cabinet seems to be in chaos," he said, adding that it
seemed the minister "doesn't know much about our constitution".
DINNER WITH BUSH
Global-Dining outlets had tussled with authorities before
over restrictions and at times flouted requests by the city
government to close early and not serve alcohol.
Global-Dining's Gonpachi restaurant, with a cavernous inner
courtyard, inspired the fight scene in Quentin Tarantino's first
"Kill Bill" film and it was the site of a dinner between
Former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and then U.S.
President George W. Bush had a dinner there in 2002.
Japan has not suffered the kind of explosive COVID-19
outbreaks seen in many other countries. But it has had more than
810,000 cases and 14,900 deaths and the slow vaccine rollout has
meant only a quarter of the population has had at least one
shot.
The dispute with Hasegawa underscores what some health
experts have criticised as weak enforcement of restrictions in
Japan, where the government has largely relied on cooperation
from businesses to comply.
The top government spokesperson said the new measures
weren't meant to target any particular businesses but they were
part of a broader campaign to raise awareness.
"We want the banks to ask business they deal with in their
daily communication to comply with coronavirus countermeasures,"
Chief Cabinet Secretary Katsunobu Kato told a news conference.
Under the law, restaurants that refuse to abide by the
requests face a penalty of up to 300,000 yen ($2,725.79).
(Reporting by Tetsushi Kajimoto, Antoni Slodkowski, Linda Sieg,
and Rocky Swift; Editing by Christopher Cushing, Robert Birsel)
((tetsushi.kajimoto@thomsonreuters.com;))