Japan is generally known for its good food hygiene, as violations can quickly spell the end of a business. One hamburg chain and a popular Japanese newspaper are enduring a slew of criticism on social media for not warning potential customers about the dangers of serving raw meat. The chain is proving popular with tourists – but some commenters and food safety experts warn that a food poisoning incident could happen at any time if customers aren’t careful.
Cook it yourself
The chain in question is Kiwamiya, a rising star in the world of Japanese hamburg steak plates. Served on a sizzling hot plate with a demiglace sauce and vegetables, hamburg steak is one of Japan’s most popular yōshoku (洋食), or Western-style, dishes. The chain also runs yakiniku stores and a motsunabe restaurant (which, incidentally, it proudly states is certified Halal).
The controversy comes from an article by Nikkei about the restaurant. The article, frankly, reads like an undeclared ad for the chain. Nikkei’s write-up talks up the chain’s success, noting that the business, which started in Fukuoka, now has a total of 10 stores both in Japan and abroad. It has six stores dedicated to serving hamburg steak in Fukuoka, Shiga, and Okinawa Prefectures.
The steak retails for 1,848 yen ($12.87). It’s reportedly made from a blend of meat, predominantly Kuroge Wagyu beef from Kyushu.
The store’s food is proving popular. Nikkei says the Hakata store had a line of some 40 people when it visited one afternoon around 1pm. The store’s manager says around 70% of its customers are Korean and other foreign inbound tourists.
What’s drawing people in? The cooking method. The hamburg steaks are only lightly cooked before being served. They’re given to customers on a hot plate which has a mini-burner attached. Customers fry the steak, bite by bite, on the plate before shoveling it into their mouths.
The risk of undercooked hamburg steak
Sounds fun, maybe?
However, social media users jumped on Nikkei’s X post, noting it’s also potentially dangerous if the meat isn’t handled properly – and if the customer doesn’t cook it sufficiently.
The post has only around 1,200 likes but over 3,000 reposts, most slamming the restaurant. Unlike steak, ground hamburg can be exposed to foreign elements throughout the product. Unless it’s handled with the utmost care before cooking, that greatly raises the risk of foodborne illnesses like E. coli, which can only be killed by cooking meat to a temperature of around 71C (160F).
“What the hell is this company’s head of hygiene and safety thinking?” one wondered.
“Is Nikkei stupid?” another groused, laying into the magazine for the promotion.
Most note that this isn’t the first time a restaurant has tried to make a name for itself with some form of raw hamburger steak. I wrote in September 2024 about how one restaurant’s “drinkable hamburg” sent 34 people to the hospital. Another restaurant in Kichijoji went viral when a food influencer posted a video of a clearly underdone dish.
Only YOU can prevent food poisoning, apparently
In those previous incidents, the stores got flack because they expected customers to heat the undercooked hamburg steak on their hot plates – which, experts admonished, aren’t hot enough to cook the meat thoroughly.
At least Kiwamiya appears to provide an actual burner for cooking the food. However, users laid into the restaurant for foisting the responsibility for food safety on its customers. Food safety expert Matsunaga Waki wrote:
“The store’s website says, ‘Our hamburg is not meant to be eaten raw. Please eat after cooking it thoroughly.’ It’s terrible to foist responsibility for cooking onto your customers despite the risks of food poisoning due to underheating. Could this be against Japan’s food hygiene laws? And what’s Nikkei thinking putting this out there?”
Another user who said they were once a food manager replied, “No matter how many warnings you print saying, ‘Cook it thoroughly! It’s not raw food! This is the proper doneness!’, it just takes one case of food poisoning and it’s curtains. People have differing expectations for doneness and will dismissively think after frying it a bit, ‘it’s good to go, probably.'”
Currently, the post hasn’t exploded into public view. Neither Nikkei nor Kiwamiya has responded to the mini-controversy yet. It’s likely both will wait for the story to blow over.
Which may work. That is, until the day someone undercooks a bad batch of burger.
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