Diners at Michelin-starred Japan eatery get food poisoning

TOKYO  — A Michelin-starred restaurant in Japan closed temporarily after 14 people got food-poisoning on a fancy Japanese-style meal there, and an investigation into the cause is continuing.

The Kanagawa prefectural government said six men and eight women complained of diarrhea and stomach pains after eating at Kita Kamakura Saryo Gentoan on June 11.

Their menu offerings included squid, jelly with sea urchin, pumpkin cooked with fish, eel and sweets, according to the prefecture.

A picturesque restaurant among the trees of Kamakura, a coastal town south of Tokyo, it is known for serving meals in quiet Japanese-style rooms. It serves kaiseki, or small, multiple-course dishes, and has one star in the latest Michelin guide.

The restaurant closed on its own June 14. The prefecture's closure order was lifted Wednesday, although the cause of the food poisoning remains under investigation, prefecture official Takeshi Ishihara said.

No one answered the phone at the restaurant Wednesday, and it wasn't clear when it would reopen.