Japanese YouTuber and entrepreneur Komeo (こめお) announced on October 1 that he is permanently closing his restaurant, Kappo Komeo (割烹こめを), following a food poisoning incident linked to the eatery earlier this year. The announcement, posted on X, quickly drew attention online — not for the closure itself, but for the fact that another restaurant Komeo is involved with, a crab ramen shop called Kani wo (かにを), remains open for business.
In his statement, Komeo said the food poisoning occurred after customers ate cold crab ramen (冷やし蟹ラーメン) served by Kappo Komeo at the Azabu-juban Ryosuke Matsuri summer festival on August 22 and 23. He apologized directly to those affected and their families, writing that he had spent weeks reflecting on his responsibility as both a cook and a business owner. “Before making delicious food, there is something more basic: serving it safely,” he wrote, adding that he had failed to uphold that basic responsibility.
Komeo said the closure is not meant to erase what happened, and that he does not believe shutting the restaurant alone discharges his responsibility — he pledged to keep addressing the incident, including with those who became ill. He also said he is stepping back from cooking for now without announcing any future plans, and thanked staff, customers, and supporters for their time with the restaurant.
The statement sparked a wave of commentary pointing out that the food poisoning was traced to the crab ramen dish, not to anything served exclusively at Kappo Komeo, yet it is Kani wo — the crab ramen shop Komeo co-owns with a business partner known online as Mizoguchi — that continues to operate out of Asakusa. Some commenters speculated that Komeo closed the less profitable kappo restaurant while preserving the more lucrative ramen business; others argued the ramen shop, as the apparent source of the outbreak, should logically be the one to close. Several users said they wanted to believe Komeo’s apology was genuine, but worried it could be followed by a quieter relaunch under a different name.
Who is Komeo?
Komeo is a Japanese YouTuber and internet personality who has built a public profile around food, entrepreneurship, and appearances tied to the BreakingDown exhibition fighting promotion, one of Japan’s most talked-about underground-style competition brands. In recent years he expanded from online content into the restaurant business, opening Kappo Komeo and co-launching the crab ramen shop Kani wo. The food poisoning case has placed his ventures outside the kitchen under renewed scrutiny.
Author’s Comment
Closing the restaurant that made people sick and keeping open the other restaurant that serves the exact dish that made people sick — I had to read that twice. Look, I get wanting to take responsibility, but Japanese internet users aren’t stupid, and they did the math in about four seconds. If this is really about owning up to a mistake, it can’t be the one that keeps the cash flowing untouched. I want to believe the apology was sincere, but sincerity usually doesn’t come with an asterisk.
