TOKYO (TR) – Public health authorities have launched an investigation into a potential mass food poisoning outbreak at the popular Azabu-Juban summer festival after numerous attendees reported suffering from diarrhea, fever, and severe stomach pains.
According to Flash (Aug. 29), he investigation centers on a food stall operated by Daichi Numakura, a 28-year-old former fighter from the popular martial arts event BreakingDown who goes by the moniker “Komeo.”
During the two-day festival held on August 22 and 23, Numakura served cold crab ramen. However, starting on August 23, social media was flooded with complaints of illness from patrons who had consumed the dish.
Suspicions quickly mounted over the “fighting chef’s” handling of ingredients. On the first day of the festival, heavy rain forced the event to shut down three hours early at 6:00 p.m. That night, Numakura posted on X complaining that the early closure left him with “700 servings left over.”
“Not do anything to evade responsibility”
Netizens have since accused the ex-fighter of reusing the massive surplus of leftover ingredients on the second day of the festival, sparking intense online backlash.
On August 27, Numakura released a statement apologizing for the uproar and confirming that he is fully cooperating with the Minato Public Health Center and the local festival association.
“At this point, the cause is not yet known,” Numakura wrote. “I have heard from the health center that it may take one to two weeks for the results. Depending on the outcome, I will absolutely not do anything to evade responsibility.”
However, Numakura’s statement glaringly omitted any mention of the 700 leftover servings, further fueling public outrage. Critics online flooded his post with demands for clarity, with one user writing, “Everyone wants to know the truth about whether you reused the 700 servings from the day before.”
Suspended operations
During the investigation, Numakura has voluntarily suspended operations at his main restaurant, Kappo Komeo.
The ex-fighter is no stranger to culinary controversy. After opening a ramen shop in Asakusa in May, he faced intense online backlash when it was revealed that the restaurant, which boasted of promoting “the goodness of Japanese crab,” was actually using soft-shell crabs imported from China.
The Azabu-Juban Noryo Matsuri, which began in 1966, is one of Tokyo’s most popular summer events, drawing approximately 300,000 visitors annually. As of August 28, health officials had not yet definitively confirmed that Numakura’s ramen was the source of the illnesses.
