protest - Japanese restaurant reopens

Ajikura restaurant in Hongqiao

Katayama Teruso(57), president of the Ajikura restaurant, is an ambitious man. "I want to become the Japanese equivalent of Pizzahut in China," the Japanese business man tells us as he joins us earlier this evening in his restaurant in Hongqiao. "But on average I had only 30 percent Chinese customers, so I still have to finetune my cooking for the local taste." He apologizes, as he had already many toasts with other visitors who came to show their support for the Japanese restaurant.

Almost two weeks ago he almost saw his dream burned down as anti-Japanese demonstrators demolished his restaurant and a fire could only narrowly be avoided, while thousands of police men did nothing to prevent the damage. Tonight he opened again, while workers were still repairing the outside and a police car stood next his restaurant. Now he feels reasonably safe again, although new demonstrations on May 4 might still be in the pipeline. "The security forces have encouraged me to reopen as soon as possible," he says. "If they would expect more problems, they would have told me to wait a few days more."

In total he lost more than one million Renminbi for repair costs and lost turnover, not covered by any insurance. "A day after the demolishing government officials of the Changning district came and told me to give any receipts for the repairs," the Japanese business man says. "So, perhaps they think about a partly compensation."

Chinese media have not covered any of the dramatic events for the Japanese business man in Shanghai, although the Japanese media were out this evening in full force. "I expect that the Chinese media feel ashamed of what has happened to me," Katayama Teruo says. "I have no other explanation."

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