Two Japanese men were arrested recently after one of them ate pickled ginger from a communal pot using his own chopsticks. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

Japanese police have arrested two Osaka men who appeared in a viral video, part of a social-media trend known as “sushi terrorism,” in which participants do things like licking soy sauce bottles or spitting on conveyor-belt sushi rolls.

Ryu Shimazu, 35, was arrested March 9, and his childhood friend, Toshihide Oka, 34, was taken into custody on Monday, after a video surfaced on social media in February of Shimazu eating pickled ginger from a communal pot using his own chopsticks, a spokeswoman from the Suminoe Police Department in Osaka city told Stars and Stripes by phone on Thursday.

Police said the incident, which could transmit germs and get other patrons sick, happened at a Yoshinoya beef bowl restaurant in Osaka on Sept. 29.

Two Japanese men were arrested recently after one of them used his own chopsticks to eat pickled ginger from a communal pot at a Yoshinoya restaurant in Osaka. (Keishi Koja/Stars and Stripes)

Both men admitted guilt and remained in police custody on Thursday, the spokeswoman said. Some government officials in Japan are required to speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.

“I asked Shimazu to do something funny, and he suddenly started eating the pickled ginger with his chopsticks,” Oka said, according to the spokeswoman. “I thought that was so funny and … uploaded the video on social media.”

Shimazu told police he “wanted to make people laugh.” The video had nearly 6 million views on Twitter as of Thursday.

The term “sushi tero,” or sushi terrorism, became a trending topic worldwide earlier this year after videos of sushi restaurant patrons licking unused cups or touching other people’s sushi after licking their fingers generated tens of millions of views online. The practice drew sharp condemnation from greater Japanese society, which prides itself on cleanliness and civility.

In certain cases, the restaurants have pressed charges against the perpetrators.

The video, which shows Shimazu shoveling ginger into his mouth while Oka laughs off camera, was discovered online by a Yoshinoya customer in February, the police spokeswoman said. The customer informed the restaurant, which notified police on Feb. 9.

Shimazu was arrested at his home in Osaka’s Nishinari district March 9, and charged the next day with damaging property and forcible obstruction of business, the spokeswoman said. If convicted, he faces up to six years in prison and $6,100 in fines.

Oka turned himself in on Monday, the spokeswoman said. He has not yet been charged.

The viral video caused that Yoshinoya location to shutter for a few hours Feb. 5 so condiments could be changed and utensils disinfected, spokesman Yuji Terasawa told Stars and Stripes by phone Thursday. The chain is asking employees to be more vigilant in watching patrons.

Incidents like this “are causing anxiety and discomfort among customers,” Terasawa said. “It causes us anger that the safety and security of restaurants is being questioned because of these issues.”