Tokyo ramen shop bans customers from using their phones while eating

One noodle shop owner takes this custom so seriously that he began timing how long his customers would take to start to eat. He found that those who waited the longest amount of time to dig into their piping hot bowls of soup were usually watching videos on their phones, leading him to take matters into his own hands.

Kota Kai owns and operates Tokyo restaurant Debu-chan – Japanese for “chubby” – which will celebrate its fifth anniversary this June.

In March, he decided to ban customers from using their smartphones while eating during busy times, a move that became a hot topic of conversation on social media in Japan.