TOKYO (Reuters) – The operator of the so-called “Kill Bill” restaurant in Tokyo said on Friday he was “shocked” by comments from a government minister that he would ask banks to pressure eateries that don’t comply with stricter coronavirus measures.
Kozo Hasegawa, the president of Global-Dining Inc that runs 43 restaurants including one that inspired the movie “Kill Bill: Volume I”, told Reuters that “the cabinet seems to be in chaos” and that it seemed the minister “doesn’t know much about our constitution”.
Hasegawa was responding to comments from economy minister Yasutoshi Nishimura who on Thursday said he would ask banks to share information on restaurants that refuse to respond to requests to follow anti-COVID-19 curbs.
Nishimura said on Friday he did not mean to imply that loans should be limited for restaurants that do not abide by new state-of-emergency curbs in Tokyo.
(Reporting by Rocky Swift; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)
