Hezumaryu Declares His Retirement Behind the “Kaitenzushi” Sushi Uproar and Promised to be a Changed Man

I will retire from nuisance activities as of today.

Hezuma Ryu, the original “nuisance YouTube star,” made this declaration abruptly on January 30.

On January 30, he updated his Twitter page with a photo of himself in a suit and a close-cropped shirt.

I will retire from annoying behavior as of today. I felt this way after witnessing the “bite terror” and the Kaitenzushi (conveyor-belt sushi) problems at Sushiro and other restaurants. I don’t want people to think that we are the same race. Hezumaryu was very successful by causing trouble and committing crimes. But the people who work hard and earnestly are the ones who lose the most. I will retire so that the world will not become like that.”

He continued.

From tomorrow, I will change my name from Hezumaryu to Volunteer Man.

He continued, “Starting tomorrow, I will change my name to Hezuma Ryu and become a volunteer man.”

As Hezuma pointed out, the problem of unsolicited videos in restaurants has become a social issue.

One of the most affected restaurants is “kaitenzushi” (conveyor-belt sushi), which is part of Japan’s traditional culture. At Hamazushi, a major chain, some people put wasabi on sushi ordered by others without permission. At “Kurazushi,” a video of a male customer putting sushi back on the conveyor belt after taking it off the plate has gone viral.

The worst was at Sushiro, where a video of high school boys licking the mouths of hot water and soy sauce bottles spread quickly. As a result, Sushiro’s market capitalization was temporarily wiped out by 17 billion yen. Both Sushiro and the affected companies have filed damage reports with the police and are seeking severe punishment.

These disturbing videos, which could be described as terrorist attacks, were spread in late January. On January 30, Hezuma unilaterally announced his retirement from the nuisance activities.

Hezuma was arrested for the first time in May 2020 for eating a fish fillet before paying for it at a supermarket in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture, and for the second time for obstruction of business by threatening the owner of an apparel store in Osaka City by saying that a T-shirt he had purchased was a fake and abusing him, which he uploaded on YouTube. He was arrested by the Osaka Prefectural Police. In other words, he is the “originator” of prank video posts.

Hezuma saw the buzz on social networking sites about the annoying videos of sushi restaurants and thought, ‘This is a bad idea.’ Hezuma says that he decided to take the initiative and retire from annoying videos and changed his name to Volunteer Man.

“He is concerned about the Internet news and is still trying to clean his image. Most people think that this name change is just a stopgap measure,” said a reporter from a sports newspaper.

Yuta Misaki, a businessman known as the “Prince of Aojiru” and a close friend of Hezuma’s, called for severe punishment for Hezuma on Twitter on January 1.

Hezumaryu is a pioneer in the field of pranking people, and I strongly believe that he should be stripped of his SNS.

He continued.

“The idiots who see these people mistakenly think, ‘I can become famous too if I cause trouble,’ and repeat their annoying behavior. First of all, the root of the problem should be cut off.”

He stressed, “First of all, we have to cut the root of the problem.”

Hezuma was afraid of this very development. He is on probation and still cannot have his own channel on YouTube.

“Twitter and Instagram are still alive, but their use may be severely restricted in the future. I am worried that the world will remember Hezuma as a “pioneer” in this debacle and turn on him,” said a reporter from a sports newspaper.

Hezuma updated his Twitter page on the 2nd with a message titled “Spread the word!”

Hezuma updated his Twitter account on the 2nd, titled “To everyone involved with Sushiro, please don’t be depressed. Please do not be discouraged and cheer up.”

Hezuma himself was not so worried. He himself tweeted

“Please let me be your spokesperson for free.”

This may have been a defensive measure, fearing that he would be “deleted” from the social networking site.

More than three years have passed since Hezuma’s appearance, and giant platforms, led by Google, are increasingly cracking down harder than ever on content that is harmful to the public. The crown of annoyance is long gone.