OTHER NEWS - Oct. 29, 1992

Japanese Firm Puts Sushi Imports Plan on Hold: Japan’s Sushi Boy restaurant chain said it has shelved for the time being a controversial decision to import frozen sushi from the United States. The decision came just weeks after Japan’s customs office, under foreign pressure, agreed to skirt a ban on imported rice by calling the sushi “processed fish.” “Although American rice is one-seventh the price, it is not clear that the finished sushi is cheaper,” said Jun Nakamura, a real estate developer recently installed as Sushi Boy’s acting president. “Our intention to import has not changed, but there is still a lot to study first.” Nakamura said Sushi Boy’s large shareholders, mostly real estate interests, were unhappy that Sushi Boy’s former president, Fujio Matsumoto, and its vice president, Haruhiko Saito, made the decision to import sushi “on their own without a solid basis.” Saito and Matsumoto resigned this week, saying they will establish a new company.