A major convenience store operator in Japan has closed one of its shops and issued an apology after video clips of several rats scurrying across its floor and dropping from its shelves were widely shared online.
FamilyMart, which has 14,000 stores nationwide, said it had closed the store in the busy Tokyo district of Shibuya after users posted clips of at least half a dozen rats inside the shop.
One video showed the creatures running along the top of a drinks refrigerator, before one falls onto the floor next to an ATM machine and scampers off.
In another clip, which appears to be from the same store, two rats can be seen crawling behind items on the baked goods shelf.
Public broadcaster NHK said one of the videos had been viewed more than 5 million times since it was posted on Twitter and YouTube on Tuesday.
“We deeply apologise for making (customers) feel uncomfortable and uneasy,” FamilyMart said in a statement on its website.
The firm said it took the incident seriously, adding that the store would remain closed while it worked with local health authorities to destroy stock and investigate the cause of the apparent infestation.
“We will consider the possibility of resuming operations in consideration of the surrounding environment of the store,” the statement added.
Despite their reputation for cleanliness, Japan’s food providers have been embarrassed by several online revelations of poor hygiene this year.
In February, FamilyMart sacked an employee after a video emerged showing him licking items of food. The same month, Seven Eleven Japan dismissed two employees after one of them spat what appeared to be a mouthful of food into an oden hotpot container while his colleagues filmed him.
The same month, a chef at the sushi chain Kura Sushi was filmed throwing a portion of fish into a bin, before retrieving it and placing it back on a worktop.
In March, the restaurant chain Ootoya closed most of its 350 stores for an emergency staff training day after a masked employee was filmed exposing himself in one of its outlets in Osaka.
