After a Teacher Was Hazed With Spicy Curry, Fans are Rallying to Defend the Dish

Earlier this month, a leaked video made the rounds on Japanese social media of four teachers at Higashi Suma Elementary School in Kobe, Japan trying to force-feed a younger colleague extremely spicy curry. The video appears to depict the teachers holding down their male colleague's arms while smearing the curry on his eyes and mouth, and there were reportedly other incidents where the group of teachers attempted to haze their coworker with food. The principal of the school, Miki Nio, has apologized for the incident, and the offending teachers are now on leave—but not before traumatizing the student body with their "inexcusable" actions, according to Nio.

After the subsequent outcry over the teachers using curry as a weapon of torture, Japanese chefs and curry-lovers worldwide are now defending the dish in all its spicy glory.

In the wake of this month's incident, as SoraNews24 reports, Japanese chefs started rallying around the dish with the hashtag #カレーに罪はない, or #kareenitsumiwanai, meaning "curry did nothing wrong." The hashtag is currently flooding timelines with mouthwatering appreciation posts for Japanese-, Indian- and Nepalese-style curry dishes.

Curry dishes are as popular as sushi and ramen in Japan, after these spice blends made their way into Japanese cuisine in the 1800s, likely via the British Navy. Curry lovers have also reportedly been advocating to get curry back on the school menu at the Higashi Suma Elementary School after it was removed in the wake of the controversy.

While the job futures of the offending teachers remain uncertain, one thing is for sure after seeing the response to the incident: Curry will prevail.

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