is a Japanese

sushi is a Japanese cuisine, Japanese dish of prepared , usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of , such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables. Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is " ...

restaurant chain A chain store or retail chain is a retail outlet in which several locations share a brand, central management and standardized business practices. They have come to dominate the retail and dining markets and many service categories, in many pa ...

. Its headquarters are in

Sakai, Osaka Prefecture is a city located in Osaka Prefecture, Japan. It has been one of the largest and most important seaports of Japan since the medieval era. Sakai is known for its keyhole-shaped burial mounds, or kofun, which date from the fifth century and in ...

. It has 451 locations in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

, 22 in Taiwan, and 30 in the United States. While it is a

conveyor belt sushi , also called rotation sushi, is a type of sushi restaurant common in Japan. In Australasia, it is also known as a sushi train. Plates serving the sushi are placed on a rotating conveyor belt that winds through the restaurant and moves past eve ...

chain, it relies on a high level of automation allowing the average location to function with fifteen to twenty staff members. At Kura Sushi's locations, each of them own a robot known as "KuraB the Kurabot", who delivers things such as food and beverages, however sometimes employees will simply supply the beverages themselves.

History

Kura Sushi launched its first location in Taiwan in December 2014 near

Songjiang Nanjing metro station Songjiang Nanjing () is a metro station in Taipei, Taiwan served by Taipei Metro. It is a transfer station between the and . The station opened on 3 November 2010 for traffic on the , and services opened on 15 November 2014. Station overview T ...

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

. Kura Sushi has featured decorations and menu items based on characters such as

Sonic the Hedgehog is a Japanese video game series and media franchise created by Sega. The franchise follows Sonic, an anthropomorphic blue hedgehog who battles the evil Doctor Eggman, a mad scientist. The main ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' games are platformers mo ...

and

Hello Kitty , also known by her full name , is a fictional Character (arts), character created by Yuko Shimizu, currently designed by Yuko Yamaguchi, and owned by the Japanese company Sanrio. Sanrio depicts Hello Kitty as an Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphi ...

. By inserting a certain number of plates into a receptacle, customers can trigger custom animations or win prizes during their dining experience.

Controversy

Kura Sushi USA has repeatedly been sued for discrimination by former female corporate employee and many more lawsuits. The most recent class action that is still going on in California in 2022 was filed by a group of servers for unpaid overtime, regular wage, uniform and business travel expenses and many other unpaid items.

Response to COVID-19

During the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

, the company received $6 million in forgivable loans intended for small businesses from the

Paycheck Protection Program The Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) is a $953-billion business loan program established by the United States federal government during the Donald Trump administration in 2020 through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES A ...

. The funds were distributed as part of the government's $2.2 trillion

CARES Act The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, also known as the CARES Act, is a $2.2trillion Stimulus (economics), economic stimulus bill passed by the 116th U.S. Congress and signed into law by President Donald Trump on March 27, 2 ...

and intended to benefit workers at employers with fewer than 500 employees that are unable to obtain credit elsewhere. The loan was returned immediately after criticized.

References

External links

Kura USAKura Japan
Restaurant chains in Japan Sushi restaurants in Japan Companies listed on the Nasdaq Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Companies listed on the Taipei Exchange {{Japan-company-stub

History

Controversy

Response to COVID-19

See also

References

External links