# Will a fugu chef really kill himself if someone dies from one of his meals? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 3, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-fugu-chef-really-kill-himself-if-someone-dies-from-one-of-his-meals/146513 "2003-01-03T23:38:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sonicsink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f17d59/32.png) [@sonicsink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sonicsink)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2003, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-fugu-chef-really-kill-himself-if-someone-dies-from-one-of-his-meals/146513/1 "2003-01-03T23:38:04Z")
I read that if a chef prepares fugu and the customer dies from the meal, he will kill himself. Since there is a small # of people who die every year from eating fugu, I was wondering if this was really true. I have yet to hear/read a news report about it. Anyone know? ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-fugu-chef-really-kill-himself-if-someone-dies-from-one-of-his-meals/146513/2 "2003-01-05T02:57:24Z")
Hard to believe that it could be true that they kill themselves in any grteat number. Else, it would be all over the news and very available on Google. For anyone wanting to know about fugu, [http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/aquatic\_animals/73164](http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/aquatic_animals/73164) ---
**Author:** ![Coriolanus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/coriolanus/32/18769_2.png) [@Coriolanus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coriolanus)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-fugu-chef-really-kill-himself-if-someone-dies-from-one-of-his-meals/146513/3 "2003-01-05T04:57:16Z")
[I’m Feeling Lucky Button](http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/scatter_the_mud/articles/fuguchef.htm) in Googol seemed to be the place to start The “Fugu Chef” doesn’t quite answer the question - does clearly say he doesn’t like the stuff. _All I ever needed to know about **Fugu** I learned from The Simpsons_ [One fish, Two fish, blowfish, Blue Fish](http://www.snpp.com/episodes/7F11.html) > [@](#): > > It is fugu, a blow fish, that has the deadly nerve toxin in one of the > internal organs (either the liver of gall bladder, I forget which). There > are fugu restaurants in Japan, where the thrill of risking death by eating > even a slightly tainted sliver of meat is the whole point of the experience. > > You must be a licensed fugu chef to work at such a restaurant, but there > are a number of “black market” fugu stands around, too. > > However, fugu usually kills you within 15 minutes, not 24 hours. It starts > with a tingling in the fingers, and works its way up your arms and legs, until > you are completely paralyzed, and you die when it reaches your heart. (The “Happy Sumo” restaurant conveniently has a map to the nearest hospital on the back of the menu) [http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/kgk/1099/kgk100299.html](http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/kgk/1099/kgk100299.html) …delves further into the ‘delicacy’ and daring aspect. Alas, nothing on ritual suicide (though my guess would is the poison is fairly small in volume and easy to avoid.) ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-fugu-chef-really-kill-himself-if-someone-dies-from-one-of-his-meals/146513/4 "2003-01-05T05:40:27Z")
A fugu chef in Azabu-juban (Tokyo) assured me that while the government might take steps against an establishment that causes harm to a customer, there is no requirement to commit seppuku. 😃 Seppuku (hari kari, or ritual suicide) was the privilege of samurai only. Merchants and craftsmen ranked below peasants (who were the only landowners in feudal Japan). ---
**Author:** ![Daylon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/45deac/32.png) [@Daylon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daylon)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2003, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-a-fugu-chef-really-kill-himself-if-someone-dies-from-one-of-his-meals/146513/5 "2003-01-05T05:52:56Z")
I think I read somewhere that if a fugu chef kills only 1-2 people a year, that is acceptable… prolly an urban legend…