Is Hong Kong’s Japanese seafood ban hurting restaurants? While many sushi, teppanyaki and omakase chefs have been quick to shift suppliers, diners have reservations, too …

Hongkongers are notoriously loyal fans of Japanese cuisine, but a blanket ban on all seafood imports from 10 prefectures has shaken diners’ confidence – and it’s the city’s restaurants that are suffering

Sushi Saito at the Four Seasons and new omakase joint Kanesaka Hong Kong both relied on abalone from Chiba, while Teppanyaki Mihara Goten mainly sources produce from the safe zone of Hokkaido

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Sushi Saito is using more seafood from Kyushu and Hokkaido, due to the dispute over the safety of seawater near Fukushima. Photo: Sushi Saito

Published: 11:00am, 28 Sep 2023Updated: 5:40pm, 22 Nov 2023

Hong Kong has long had a love affair with Japanese food. From ramen shops to high-end omakase dining experiences, the country’s cuisine is generally considered healthy and almost always signifies quality and precision.

The recent ban on certain seafood from Japan has understandably knocked diners’ confidence, and he rush on ingredients from areas not even affected by the restrictions is likely to push prices and make finding in-demand produce even more challenging.

“It’s a dynamic landscape, and while it’s hard to predict with certainty, we do anticipate that sourcing Japanese ingredients, especially from sought-after regions like Hokkaido, might become more challenging,” says Terufumi Mihara of Kappo-style Japanese restaurant Teppanyaki Mihara Goten. “This could lead to potential cost increases.”

The Japanese ingredients used at Mihara’s restaurant – which moved from Tseung Kwan O to Cubus in Causeway Bay in July – are mainly from Hokkaido, a region unaffected by the new restrictions, but the chef admits the ban has affected Hongkongers’ views on Japanese ingredients as a whole. “There’s no denying that there’s been a shift in public perception regarding Japanese ingredients, particularly seafood,” he adds.

Steamed Japanese abalone at Kanesaka. High-quality abalone from Chiba prefecture has found itself banned in Hong Kong due to the dispute over the safety of seawater near Fukushima. Photo: Kanesaka

Hong Kong’s Japanese seafood ban explained

Hong Kong’s ban on Japanese seafood imports covers live, chilled, dried and preserved goods, seaweed products and sea salt from 10 prefectures that the government states may be affected by Japan’s controversial plan to discharge treated waste water from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant: Tokyo, Fukushima, Chiba, Tochigi, Ibaraki, Gunma, Miyagi, Niigata, Nagano and Saitama.

Some restaurants affected by the ban have begun to source fish and seafood from other parts of Japan, while others have opted for alternative sources, such as oysters from France or fish from Singapore and Hong Kong.

Other lucky restaurants have escaped unscathed: Ando’s Agustin Balbi says “it’s business as normal” as the Spanish-meets-Japanese hotspot has always sourced seafood from Europe and the non-affected areas of Japan.

But the ban may prove problematic for the Edomae-style sushi experts Sushi Saito, located in the Four Seasons Hotel Hong Kong: its signature abalone dish has traditionally made use of abalone from Chiba.