World’s First Human Meat Restaurant Opens in Tokyo-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
The world’s first restaurant serving human meat has opened in Tokyo.
The Truth:
A blogging platform that publishes content submitted by its community of contributors is behind false reports that the world’s first human meat restaurant opened in Tokyo.
The post appeared at Steemit.com, a “social news community,” on November 29, 2017. More than 1 million readers viewed the post within weeks, and rumors about a human meat restaurant ran rampant.
The story goes that the human meat restaurant, known as “”The Resoto ototo no shoku ryohin,” which translates to “Edible Brother,” opened in Tokyo. A law that changed in 2014 apparently paved the way for the world’s first human meat restaurant
However, the Steemit platform might not be a great source of credible news. The site’s disclaimer states that its content is presented “as is” without “warranties of any kind.” That doesn’t exactly inspire confidence in its reporting.
World’s First Human Meat Restaurant: Earlier Versions
As is often the case, claims about the first human meat restaurant opening in Tokyo aren’t exactly original. The post draws heavily from a 2016 report that appeared Lavozpopular.com, a Spanish-languge satirical website.
The original 2016 post also cites a 2014 law passed in Tokyo that allows restaurants to serve human meat. And the “first cannibal restaurant in the world” was also called “Edible Brother” in the original, too. So, claims about the first human meat restaurant aren’t just fake — they’re plagiarized.
We’ve investigated many similar claims about human meat over the years, too. There was the false report about McDonald’s admitting to using human meat filler in its products. Another one claimed that a website called ManBeef.com was selling human meat.
As is often the case with rumors about human meat, the one about the first human meat restaurant opening in Tokyo is false.