Warren Buffett hates Japanese food, even if he loves investing in Japan: ‘it was the worst’

The billionaire investor swore off Japanese food for life after a disastrous sushi dinner at the New York apartment of Sony’s then-chairman in 1989

‘He had not realised there were this many things on the planet that could be eaten raw,’ his biographer wrote. Buffett prefers a McDonald’s and Coke

Reading Time:2 minutes

Warren Buffett, chairman, CEO and largest shareholder of Berkshire Hathaway, pictured in 2015. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:13am, 24 Apr 2023Updated: 9:19am, 24 Apr 2023

Warren Buffett recently flew to Tokyo to meet the heads of the country’s five largest trading houses, which he invested in a few years ago. The billionaire investor and Berkshire Hathaway CEO probably didn’t sample any local delicacies.

Buffett likes to say he found everything he enjoys eating by the time he turned six. The 92-year-old chows down on McDonald’s for breakfast, guzzles five cans of Coca-Cola a day, and munches on See’s Candies and Dairy Queen Blizzards. When CNBC’s Becky Quick asked him this month what he’d been eating in Japan, he said Hershey’s Kisses and Coke.

Notably, Buffett swore off Japanese food for life after a disastrous sushi dinner in 1989. Alice Schroeder recounted the story in her biography of him, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and The Business of Life.

Akio Morita, then-chairman of Sony, pictured in Hong Kong with one of his company’s video cameras in 1989. Photo: C.Y. Yu

Buffett was invited to an intimate dinner hosted by Akio Morita, the billionaire chairman of Sony at the time. Morita’s Fifth Avenue apartment overlooked the Metropolitan Museum, had a sweeping view of Central Park, and featured a sushi kitchen where guests could watch four chefs prepare their meal.

As a picky eater, Buffett had attended many events where he ate nothing expect bread rolls. While he hadn’t tried Japanese food, he doubted it would be to his liking.

After sitting down for dinner, Buffett watched as his companions slurped down mysterious broths and tucked into rubbery, unidentifiable specialities. He couldn’t stomach trying anything placed in front of him, and mumbled excuses to the waiters when they whisked away his food.

“Course after course arrived, and each of his plates went back, untouched,” Schroeder writes. “He had not realised there were this many things on the planet that could be eaten raw.”