Hankyu Hanshin Hotels Co., under fire for deceiving consumers by misrepresenting items on its menus, is drawing sympathy from some in the food and hotel industries.
According to people involved in the food service industry, false advertising of this kind "happens quite often, and the company might have not intended to falsify the menus."
During a news conference Monday, Hankyu Hanshin Hotels President Hiroshi Desaki claimed that touting Vannamei shrimp as Shiba shrimp is a customary practice among people in the industry.