KISSIMMEE, FL. Inspectors who visited American Japa Sushi on Brooklyn Drive on May 21 found that the restaurant had no written employee health policy, no mechanism for sick workers to report illness symptoms, and food contact surfaces that had not been properly cleaned or sanitized. The facility collected seven high-severity violations and one intermediate violation. It was not closed.
What Inspectors Found
The inspector documented that no person in charge was present or performing supervisory duties during the visit. That finding sits at the top of a cascade: without active management, the other violations follow.
Workers were not reporting illness symptoms, and the restaurant had no written health policy requiring them to do so. Those two violations appeared together on the same inspection report.
Handwashing failures compounded the picture. The inspector cited both inadequate handwashing facilities and improper hand and arm washing technique. The surfaces those hands then touched, the report notes, had not been properly cleaned or sanitized.
The restaurant also lacked a consumer advisory for raw or undercooked foods. At a sushi restaurant, where raw fish is a core menu item, the absence of that notice means customers with compromised immune systems, pregnant women, and elderly diners had no posted warning about the risks they were taking.
The intermediate violation involved improper sewage or wastewater disposal.
What These Violations Mean
The combination of no employee health policy and no illness reporting mechanism is what public health officials describe as an outbreak enabler. Norovirus, which causes roughly 20 million illnesses in the United States each year, spreads most efficiently when infected food workers handle food without knowing they are required to stay home. A written health policy is the first line of defense. American Japa Sushi did not have one.
The handwashing violations make that worse. Improper technique leaves pathogens on hands even when a worker makes an attempt to wash. Inadequate facilities mean the attempt is harder to make in the first place. When those unwashed hands then contact food surfaces that have not been sanitized, the transfer route from worker to customer is direct and largely unimpeded.
The missing consumer advisory carries a specific risk at this type of restaurant. Raw fish can carry Vibrio, Salmonella, and parasites. For most healthy adults, exposure may produce a short illness. For a pregnant woman, an elderly customer, or someone on immunosuppressant medication, the same exposure can be severe. Florida regulations require restaurants serving raw or undercooked items to post a notice. The inspector found none.
The sewage violation adds a layer that is harder to dismiss. Improper wastewater disposal introduces the possibility of fecal contamination in a facility where raw food is being handled. That violation alone, in most inspections, draws immediate attention.
The Longer Record
The May 21 inspection was not an anomaly. State records show American Japa Sushi has been inspected 16 times and has accumulated 209 total violations across that history.
The day before this inspection, on May 20, inspectors visited the same restaurant and found nine high-severity violations and three intermediate ones. The May 21 report came one day later, with seven high and one intermediate. Two inspections in two consecutive days, 16 combined violations at the high-severity level.
The pattern extends further back. In September 2025, the restaurant drew eight high and four intermediate violations. In March 2025, nine high and seven intermediate. In February 2025, the worst single visit on record: 11 high-severity violations and seven intermediate ones. In September 2024, ten high and one intermediate.
That stretch from February 2025 through May 2026 produced five inspections with eight or more high-severity violations each time. The restaurant has never been emergency-closed.
Still Open
State records show American Japa Sushi has accumulated more than 200 violations across 16 inspections without a single emergency closure. The May 21 visit, with seven high-severity findings including no illness reporting policy, unsanitized food contact surfaces, and improper sewage disposal, did not change that.
The restaurant was open when inspectors arrived. It remained open when they left.