The History of Sushi

By Yuji Katsumata

America is in the midst of a health boom and Japanese food is garnering a lot of attention as a “healthy food.” Most notable among those in the spotlight is “sushi.” Sushi used to be a food for celebrities, and ordinary people did not have much experience with it. In particular, it was thought that “eating raw fish is something barbarians do.” Even in urban areas during the 1970’s eating raw fish was seen as something strange.
Thirty years later, sushi is a part of the language. Starting with the American-born California Roll, numerous rolls of many types have appeared in the U.S. The naming and “topping” of many of these rolls are colorful, reflect the local feeling, and are available not only at sushi counters, but also in the deli section of supermarkets and convenience stores. In this article I will try to retrace the footprints of the past to discover, “What is sushi?”

Origins of Sushi
It is said that sushi originated around the Fourth Century B.C. in Southeast Asia. In those days, in order to supply all-important protein, the way of preserving fish was to soak salted fish in rice and allow it to ferment. The guts were removed from the fish, salt and vinegar were added, and the fish was soaked with rice. It was a food that was preserved well through the fermentation of the rice.
This sushi was called “nare zushi” (a name given at the start of the era in which it was introduced), and after a period of several days to several months the fish was taken out and eaten while the rice was discarded.
From Preserved Food to Non-preserved Food
Sushi later came to Mainland China and around the Eighth Century it was brought to Japan. Eventually, since the Japanese people liked rice, they began to eat the fish along with rice, and sushi known as “nananari zushi” appeared at the end of the Muromachi Period (1333-1573). The half-raw fish and the rice were eaten together.
In another version of the story, “narezushi,” which still exists in the Shiga Prefecture area, is said to be the origin. Another version has it that “funazushi” in the Otsu area, for example, and other foods still remaining around the Lake Biwa area inherited the current of sushi as it went from preserved food to non-preserved food.
The Tranformation of Sushi
In the beginning, rice was only for helping the fermentation process and its purpose was only for preservation. At the start of the Edo Period (1603-1867), other foods began to be eaten with this very same rice that was unique to Japan, and the structure of sushi was transformed.
Unlike today, there was no technology for freezing food; to preserve sushi ingredients, a method of soaking them in “soy sauce” or “vinegar” was used. Because of that, items such as tuna are said to be typical and even in the present day, if you order at a sushi restaurant by saying, “give me the soaked stuff,” an order of tuna will be served. In those days, when sushi was made, sushi chefs sat Japanese-style, the place was called “a soaking place,” and if you didn’t have calluses on your feet from sitting, you were not considered to be a full-fledged sushi chef. The reason it was called “Edo-mae sushi” is because fish caught in the Ocean around Edo (today’s Tokyo) were used at that time; and since the ocean and the town were close to each other, it was easy to preserve the fish. Instead of waiting for fermentation, vinegar was added to the rice; and not only fish, but also vegetables and dried foods were used as well. This method is strongly connected to the local products of a given location, and even now there are still special products or “local specialties” in many regions of Japan.
Birth of Quick Sushi and Nigiri Sushi
Around 1700 in Japan, “sushi” restaurants appeared and “pressed sushi” and “inari zushi” were born. In about 1800, during the Edo Period, eateries centered on street stalls were popular in the towns. For the food lifestyles of ordinary people the thinking was, “if it’s quick and fulfilling, it’s good enough” and what is today known as fast food flourished.
Among those foods, “quick sushi” appeared, and this was to be the origin of nigiri sushi. However, there was no official record of “by whom, when, and where it was started.”
What is almost established is that at the beginning of Edo Period culture (1803-1830), “quick sushi” was invented at “Matsu no Sushi,” a high-end restaurant in a place known as Fukagawa Rokken-bori, and one of the chefs from that restaurant, Hanaya Yohebei, made further innovations and spread “nigiri sushi” throughout Edo from his own restaurant in Ryogoku.
At first, it was called “quick sushi.” However, other sushi chefs presented an opinion of “this isn’t real sushi”, and a huge uproar ensued; however, it had a good reputation for being quick and delicious, and it started gaining acceptance around Edo. At that time, preservation technology was not yet developed, so once it sold out, patrons were told, “ojare zushi, ” meaning “come back in a few days.” Also, “machare sushi” was so named because of its meaning: “wait a second.”
In those days, it was said: “If you steal ten ryou [a current value of one million yen], you will get the death penalty.” Yet, high-quality tastes became popular among the populace of Edo and “three ryou sushi” sold very well. This was at a time when if a sumo wrestler managed to get “ten ryou,” his salary would be that “ten ryou,” and it was said that he could live for one year on that amount of money.
From that time and through the Meiji Era (1868-1912) and Taisho Era (1912-1926), there were a lot of street stalls doing business next to public bathhouses, and the size of the sushi was as the same as the present day “rice balls” - even for adults it was said “if you have two, you will be full.” Around the Yoshiwara district in Edo, businessman-type chefs appeared who had balance bars with hanging tubs containing a rice tub on one end and sushi ingredients on the other. The style whereby a towel is wrapped tightly around the head was called “Yoshiwara Maki” and it came to have a good reputation for being “smart and cool.”
Moreover, by the end of the Edo Period, sushi styles were divided into “Kanto-style” and “Kansai-style.” “Kanto-style” is the mainstream of current sushi styles and is based on “nigiri” sushi. “Kansai-style” is based on “pressed sushi.” It is a style made by a square-shaped mold, and even today “battera” and “kera sushi” continue to convey the tradition. After the Great Kanto Earthquake of 1923, sushi chefs in Tokyo who were victims returned to their own hometowns and spread “nigiri sushi” all over Japan. “Nigiri sushi” was a part of “local Tokyo food” but misfortune turned into a blessing and it spread nationally.

Why Sushi is Served in Pairs
When you order sushi at the sushi restaurant, most places will serve two pieces at a time. The reason for this actually comes from religious origins. Since ancient times, “rice” was something very important and it was respected as both “a god” and “Buddha.”
Once upon a time a customer requested, “Please make a smaller piece of sushi because this one is too big,” so the sushi chef cut the sushi in half. It was said that two pieces of sushi being created from one began thusly; however, because of the implication of “cutting the precious god and Buddha,” the rice portion remained small, and could still be used for just one piece. Depending on the sushi restaurant, therefore, some still serve only one piece per one order. Generally “high quality” restaurants employ this system.
Accordingly, these sushi restaurant owners say: “It is good that customers can order one or three pieces - or as much as they want - per order.” By way of example, with regard to naming ingredients, “a sushi chef calls squid legs ‘geso.’ But if you don’t know the name, you can just order ‘squid legs.’ It is the chef’s job to serve sushi in ways that make customers happy. Making comments if a customer doesn’t know the name of the ingredients, or making an unhappy face if there is a strange order of one or three pieces - these are not the actions of a real sushi chef.”
I asked around at sushi restaurants in Los Angeles, and in the last two or three years there have been cases of American customers ordering one or three pieces. This is due to the influence of setting up happy hour events with “one dollar sushi” and promotional sales of certain ingredients. Some restaurants say that there is only one person in a hundred who orders in such a way.” Incidentally, restaurants and sushi chefs answered: “We would accept such orders.” Japanese customers, meanwhile, think, “one order equals two pieces,” and orders of “one piece each, please” are “nearly zero.”
Currently, the price for “one order of two pieces” of sushi averages from four to six dollars. The price at cheaper restaurants ranges from three to five dollars.

Sushi of Today
Around the 1960’s, in order for “common people to be able to eat sushi more easily,” revolving sushi appeared in Japan. Nowadays, it has spread all over Japan and not only do revolving sushi establishments have cheap prices, but quality and quantity have also improved as sushi has grown into a major industry. Because fish and rice are good for one’s health, sushi has boomed in America since around the 1980’s, and sushi bars have spread. The first revolving sushi restaurant, moreover, appeared in Japantown in San Francisco in about 1985.
At that time, the method for revolving was not a conveyor belt; there was a narrow channel of water between the counter and the customer, and small boats were tied together with a chain and made to float in a revolving fashion. The health department here in America had never seen such a facility and spent a lot of time checking the sanitary conditions and the restaurant had a hard time before it could open. Once it opened, the idea and the unique way of serving - dubbed “boat sushi” - gained a good reputation, and it was said that so many customers came every day that the chefs had no time to look up from making sushi.
Later, Los Angeles and other big cities in each state came to have revolving sushi restaurants. The freshness of the sushi on the conveyor belt diminished after a while, and to avoid that, the restaurants added covers or tags to the plates, removed the plates after a certain time, and made efforts to keep the sushi fresh all the time.
Sushi chefs used to stand in the center of the revolving conveyor belt to make sushi, but recently there is a new method of standing on the outside and placing the sushi on the conveyor belt. Not only is sushi served with this method, but there are also fried foods such as tempura, a variety of side dishes, desserts, and “anything that can be put on the conveyor belt and delivered to the customer.” On the whole, however, the saturation level of the revolving sushi market has not yet been reached, and it is said that “the market still has plenty of room for development.”
Revolving sushi has become popular in European countries such as France, and it is considered to be one of the developing industries. In Europe, they have a custom of eating “raw” or “nearly raw” fish, so sushi was easily accepted. Not only are there skillful sushi chefs, but sushi machines have also appeared. Sushi has become popularized, and the boom has spread not just to America, but also to all over the world.
Even in the U.S. sushi has finally seen the light of the day, and we can say the day has arrived in which there is a chance for sushi to develop not only in big cities, but in small towns as well.