China’s chain brand “Yang Guofu Spicy Hot Pot” in Japan’s Sendai opened a new store and caused controversy by using the names of celebrities such as Yuzuru Hanyu on congratulatory flower baskets without permission, prompting Hanyu himself to clarify and express “scary”. Lawyers stated that such actions have violated the “right of celebrity name” and “image commercial rights”. The restaurant involved has publicly apologized and temporarily suspended operations for rectification.
Yang Guofu Spicy Hot Pot conducted a trial operation at its new store in Sendai on August 17. The congratulatory flower baskets placed in front of the store had the names of Sendai-born figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu and former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama. It was quickly confirmed by the public that this was an unauthorized use of the names and identities, causing immediate public scrutiny.
Such unethical commercial practices are rare in Japan, and Japanese citizens have expressed condemnation below news reports. Some comments criticized: “Using a celebrity’s name without permission is not only malicious but also embarrassing, making people doubt the restaurant’s ability to continue operating.” “This type of behavior is extremely dishonest, and unethical marketing practices should be strictly scrutinized.”
A consumer who had patronized the restaurant stated, “Dishonest behavior exposes the restaurant’s lack of professional ethics, and I will not patronize any of their restaurants in the future.”
On August 17, the Yuzuru Hanyu fan site “Hanyu Yuzuru Tieba” disclosed on Weibo that Yuzuru Hanyu had clarified in a members-only program on the official YouTube channel that he had never sent a flower basket to the restaurant. The post quoted Hanyu as saying, “It’s not so much a flower basket that I didn’t know about, but rather someone using my name without permission and sending out the flower basket… it’s scary.”
Afterwards, the restaurant group issued an apology on the social media platform X, admitting that “upon confirmation, the congratulatory flower baskets were not sent by the individual concerned, but arranged by the restaurant,” and expressed “deep apologies for harming the reputation of those involved.”
The operator of the store in Sendai, located in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, has not responded to the matter.
Currently, the Sendai branch has announced temporary closure from the 18th to the 21st.
Ryūji Nishiguchi, a lawyer from the Kobe Marin Law Firm in Japan, told nnn news that this incident involves multiple legal risks. First, using a celebrity’s name on congratulatory flower baskets to create an impression of “celebrity congratulations” without authorization likely infringes on “image commercial rights”. Celebrity names have economic value in attracting customers, and unauthorized use for the purpose of soliciting customers may violate Article 709 of the Japanese Civil Code on tortious acts.
Nishiguchi also stated that names are symbols of personality, and unauthorized use infringes on “name rights and personality rights”; damaging a celebrity’s image constitutes “defamation”, for which compensation liability must be borne. If a celebrity’s name serves as a well-known business identifier, it may also violate the Unfair Competition Prevention Act.
He emphasized that restaurants cannot freely use celebrity names to create a false impression of endorsement, as this would violate relevant legal provisions.