THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SHIHAB RATTANS, CNN ANCHOR: To the Far East, where technology is giving a whole new meaning to the term "fast food" in some Japanese sushi bars.
ASIEH NAMDAR, CNN ANCHOR: Conveyer belts are replacing waiters and making it easier are for families to dine out.
Akiko Yamano of Japan's Channel J shows us how.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AKIKO YAMANO, JAPAN CHANNEL J REPORTER (voice-over): You don't have to travel far to find a fast food restaurant wherever you walk in the Tokyo metropolis. There's the normal fare -- hamburgers, fried chicken and noodles. And there's even fast food sushi.
These snappy service sushi bars place the sushi on plates that ride past the customers on a conveyor belt. you take what you like.
The sushi on one plate costs 100 yen, about $1. Compared to tradition sushi restaurants, that's 1/5 to 1/10 the price. In these places, pricey sushi has become food for the masses.
And now there's been some changes made in the conveyer belt system. This is the new one: It's in the shape of the letter "E." With the new system, it's possible to have more customers than with the old letter "O" type. With the new conveyor system, a sushi bar can have booths, unlike old "O"-shaped system where customers have to sit at the counter side by side around the belt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): It it's a new kind. It looks modern.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): For our family, this looks friendlier.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): At the counter I have to eat with my baby on my back, but here the family can sit together.
YAMANO: Before, the sushi was prepared by chefs inside the rotary belt, but now they can work in the kitchen. Customers order over the interphone. Sushi is made to order right away, then it's put on the belt. UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): Sitting around the counter was common for these kinds of shops, but the booth seems a lot more comfortable for family with young children and with age.
They simply enjoy their dinner more. We have increased our sales a little, too.
YAMANO: The atmosphere of sushi shops is changing from the noisy traditional shops to "O"-shaped rotary counters, to the latest snakey one. But they are turning into restaurants where the whole family can mark the passage of time by the passing sushi delights.
This report was prepared by Akiko Yamano for, Channel J, Tokyo, for the CNN WORLD REPORT.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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