99 Fun Facts About Sushi

Which ingredient defines what sushi is, even when there is no raw fish at all?

Vinegared rice, called shari or sumeshi, is the one thing every sushi shares; plenty of sushi holds cooked seafood, vegetables or no fish at all.

Tobiko, the tiny roe sprinkled on many sushi rolls, comes from which sea creature?

Flying fish roe is tobiko, while masago, a similar roe with smaller grains, comes from capelin.

Why did the earliest sushi makers ferment fish with salt and rice?

To prevent spoilage without refrigeration: narezushi fish was lacto-fermented, and the spent rice was thrown away before eating.

Which Japanese dish of thinly sliced raw fish falls outside the definition of sushi because it has no rice?

Sashimi skips the rice, so it isn't sushi, and it isn't only fish either: the name also covers other raw meat sliced thin.

Besides its sharp heat, what property is wasabi's pungent compound well known for?

It fights microbes: allyl isothiocyanate, found in real and imitation wasabi alike, curbs microbial growth, which may help raw fish keep.

Farmers now raise poison-free fugu pufferfish by keeping them away from what?

Toxin-making bacteria are to blame: fugu pick up their poison through what they eat, so fish raised on a controlled diet lose their toxicity.

Kanpyō, a classic sushi roll filling, is made from dried strips of which plant?

Calabash gourd is shaved into long ribbons and dried to make kanpyō, one of the classic single fillings of thin hosomaki rolls.

What is the main job of the vinegar mixture folded into sushi rice?

Flavor is its job: short-grain rice supplies the stickiness on its own, which is why long-grain rice won't hold sushi together.

Which son, the heir shown in Jiro Dreams of Sushi, worked beside Jiro Ono at Sukiyabashi Jiro?

Yoshikazu, the elder son the film showed waiting to inherit, worked beside his father, while younger brother Takashi runs his own branch in Roppongi Hills.

Which cone-shaped sushi, with fillings spilling out the wide end, is meant to be picked up and eaten by hand?

Temaki means 'hand roll', and the cone should be eaten right away, before the nori soaks up moisture from the filling and loses its crispness.

Which Edo-period chef is credited with inventing or perfecting nigirizushi around 1824?

Hanaya Yohei, from his shop in Ryōgoku, is widely regarded as the creator of modern sushi, the hand-pressed nigiri the world knows best.

What does the Japanese word 'sushi' literally mean?

"Sour-tasting" is the literal meaning, from an archaic conjugation of the word for sour, because the dish has a sour, savoury taste.

How is a conveyor-belt sushi meal usually priced?

By empty plates: staff count the stack, and each plate's colour or pattern marks its price, typically about 100 to 500 yen.

Kappamaki takes its name from the kappa, a legendary Japanese water imp said to be fond of which filling?

Cucumber is the kappa's favorite, so the slim cucumber roll bears its name; it is traditionally eaten between pieces of raw fish to clear the palate.

Tekkamaki, the tuna roll, reputedly began as a gamblers' snack, much like which Western food?

The sandwich is said to be named for an earl who ate it at the card table, and one theory says tekkamaki fed gamblers in dens called tekkaba.

Inarizushi is sushi rice stuffed inside a pouch made of what?

Fried tofu pouches called aburaage hold the rice, and the dish takes its name from Inari, the Shinto kami of rice and fertility.

Inarizushi is named after the Shinto god Inari, whose messengers are which animals?

Foxes act as Inari's pure white messengers, and in ancient times the fox itself may have been revered as the kami of rice.

Gunkanmaki, the 'warship roll' built to hold loose toppings like roe, was invented in which Tokyo district?

Ginza, at the Kyubey restaurant: a strip of nori wrapped around the rice formed a vessel, letting chefs serve soft toppings like roe and sea urchin.

Battera, a pressed mackerel sushi, takes its name from a Portuguese word meaning what?

Small boat, from the Portuguese bateira, because the sushi or its wooden molds were thought to look like little boats.

Oshizushi, block-shaped sushi pressed in a wooden mold, is a specialty of which city?

Osaka's oshizushi uses only cooked or cured toppings, never raw fish, and its best-known form is battera, pressed mackerel.

Kakinohazushi, a specialty of Nara, is wrapped in the leaves of which tree?

Persimmon leaves wrap kakinohazushi, which is really a form of oshizushi, sushi pressed into a block in a wooden mold.

Aburi oshizushi, pressed sushi seared with a butane torch, was invented in 2008 in which city?

Vancouver, the adopted home of California roll claimant Hidekazu Tojo, is where chefs first torched the fish on pressed sushi in 2008.

The original California roll used real cooked crab, but modern versions almost always substitute what?

Imitation crab replaced the frozen king crab early chefs used; it is surimi, pulverized white fish shaped and cured to resemble snow crab legs.

Chef Hidekazu Tojo says which two ingredients, starting with C and A, gave the California roll its name?

Crab and avocado, Tojo says, but many food historians describe a dish that evolved gradually rather than one chef's invention.

Salmon sushi only caught on in Japan after a late-1980s marketing push by which country's salmon industry?

Norway had a glut of farmed salmon that was safe to eat raw, and a partnership with Japanese supplier Nichirei got Japan eating raw a fish it had long cooked.

Which ingredient, unheard of in Japanese sushi, is a mainstay of sushi rolls in Brazil?

Cream cheese is so common in Brazilian sushi that it turns up in rolls and other pieces alike, a twist unheard of in Japan.

Temarizushi is sushi pressed by hand into what shape?

A ball: temarizushi, literally 'ball sushi', is pressed by hand into a small round bite using plastic wrap.

Setsubun's ehōmaki roll is eaten in silence facing what?

The lucky direction, which changes every year; the Kansai custom spread nationwide largely through convenience-store marketing.

In sushi-bar slang, 'murasaki' (meaning purple) refers to what?

Soy sauce is shōyu in standard Japanese, but behind a sushi counter it goes by murasaki, the word for purple.

What does 'agari' mean in sushi vocabulary?

Green tea is agari, literally 'rise up', in sushi slang, and better sushi restaurants often pour a premium tea called mecha.

In sushi slang, 'gyoku' ('jewel') refers to which topping?

Sweet omelette is gyoku, 'jewel', at the sushi counter, one of several slang words heard mainly inside sushi bars.

Ōtoro, the fattiest and most prized cut, most often comes from which species of tuna?

Bluefin, above all Pacific bluefin, supplies most toro, and demand for it soared in the 1960s once refrigeration let the fatty meat travel.

The dark green nori sheets used to wrap rolls are actually a type of what?

Red algae of the genus Pyropia make nori, grown on nets suspended at the sea surface and tended by farmers working from boats.

The traditional grater used for fresh wasabi is made from what?

Sharkskin's fine, rough surface was the traditional way to grate the root, though metal graters called oroshigane are more common today.

The imitation wasabi served in most restaurants outside Japan is mostly a dyed paste of which root?

Horseradish plus mustard powder and green dye is the recipe for seiyo-wasabi, which in Japan may be labelled 'Japanese Horseradish'.

EU rules require fish served raw to be frozen first, mainly to kill what?

Parasites die when fish is frozen at −20 °C or colder for at least 24 hours, though farmed fish raised on parasite-free feed can be exempt.

Among fixed-price sushi sets graded shō-chiku-bai, which plant marks the most expensive tier?

Pine, matsu, marks the top tier, bamboo the middle and plum, ume, the least expensive set.

Nyotaimori is a controversial Japanese presentation style that serves sushi on what?

A woman's naked body serves as the platter; the name translates roughly as 'female body presentation'.

Conveyor-belt sushi became famous across Japan after Genroku Sushi won an award at which kind of event?

A world's fair: Genroku Sushi won an award at Expo '70, which also showed off early mobile phones and maglev trains, and a sushi boom followed.

Nakano Matazaemon, developer of Edo-era red sushi vinegar, founded which vinegar company?

Mizkan, founded in Handa in 1804, began by turning byproducts of sake making into rice vinegar, the red kind Edo-style sushi used.

Chirashizushi, rice topped with scattered fish and vegetables, is traditionally eaten on which March festival?

Hinamatsuri counts chirashizushi among its traditional foods, and the dish returns on Children's Day in May, prized for being filling, fast and easy.

Freshly cooked sushi rice is tossed with its vinegar dressing in a hangiri tub using which tool?

A wooden paddle, the shamoji, folds in the dressing, and the rice is then covered with a cloth and left to cool before shaping.

Which inside-out roll, born of the California roll's trick of hiding seaweed from Western diners, puts rice outside the nori?

Uramaki means 'inside-out roll'; it remains uncommon in Japan, where the nori stays on the outside.

Korean gimbap looks like makizushi, but its rice is seasoned with what instead of vinegar?

Sesame oil seasons gimbap rice, and fillings such as danmuji pickled radish and bulgogi are wrapped in gim, the Korean equivalent of nori.

Unlike the burn of chilli peppers, the heat of wasabi is felt mainly where?

In the nose: wasabi's volatile compounds rise into the nasal passage, and because the burn isn't oil-based it washes away quickly with food or drink.

Narezushi, the earliest form of sushi, possibly began in the basin of which river?

The Mekong basin, now Laos, Cambodia, Thailand and Vietnam, is one candidate, and a Chinese dictionary from around the fourth century first mentions such a dish.

Chef Ichiro Mashita, largely credited with inventing the California roll, cooked in which Japanese-American neighbourhood?

Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, where Mashita worked at the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant, is often called the California roll's birthplace, though other chefs claim it too.

Researchers won a 2011 Ig Nobel Prize for using wasabi vapour in what kind of device?

A smoke alarm for the deaf: in one test, a deaf volunteer woke within 10 seconds of wasabi vapour being sprayed into his room.

Namanare, the Muromachi-period sushi that was the first eaten rice and all, has a name meaning what?

Partially fermented: its shorter fermentation meant the rice was eaten along with the fish, turning sushi from a preservation method into a dish.

Edo-period nigiri used a rice mound roughly how large compared with today's?

About three times the size: nigiri was Edo's fast food for ordinary townspeople, and it used only half as much vinegar as today's.

The 'Edomae' in Edomae zushi originally referred to fish caught where?

Tokyo Bay, the sea in front of Edo, supplied the fresh catch, but today 'Edomae' is a byword for quality sushi wherever the fish comes from.

In the Kansai region, inarizushi pouches are usually made in what shape?

Triangle-shaped pouches are the Kansai style, while the Kantō region usually shapes its inarizushi as a rectangle.

Canned tuna tossed with which condiment fills a popular thin Japanese sushi roll?

Mayonnaise, hence the roll's name tsunamayomaki, and in Japan Japanese-style mayonnaise also tops salmon and even pork sushi.

In negitoromaki, the 'negi' most likely refers to which ingredient?

Scallion, negi, is the most common explanation for the name, though a newer theory traces 'negitoro' to the verb negiru instead.

How long does modern narezushi spend in its barrel before it can be eaten?

Six months in the barrel under a heavy pickling stone, and once ready it stays edible for another six months or more.

Authentic funa-zushi uses nigorobuna, a wild goldfish variety found only in which waters?

Lake Biwa, Japan's largest freshwater lake, is home to nigorobuna, whose bones soften during fermentation so the fish can be eaten whole.

Australian-style takeaway sushi is usually sold in which form?

An uncut roll, made from half a nori sheet and often filled with teriyaki chicken, is Australia's distinctive takeaway sushi.

Sushi pizza, a crispy fried rice patty topped with sliced fish, comes from which Canadian city?

Toronto chef Kaoru Ohsada came up with it by 1993 at Nami Japanese Seafood Restaurant, and it became one of the city's signature dishes.

Compared with Kantō, the sushi-rice dressing of the Kansai region uses more of what?

Sugar makes Kansai sushi rice sweeter, while Kantō dressings use more salt; most regional variation in sushi rice lies in this dressing.

A makisu rolling mat is woven from bamboo and what?

Cotton string binds the bamboo slats, and cooks often cover the mat in plastic film, especially when rolling with the rice on the outside.

Sheet-form nori was invented in Edo-era Asakusa by borrowing the method of which craft?

Paper-making gave nori its sheet form around 1750; before that it was eaten as a paste, and sheets are still shredded and rack-dried much like paper.

Japan's postwar nori industry was rescued by a seaweed scientist from which country?

Britain's Kathleen Drew-Baker cracked the seaweed's life cycle in 1949 without ever visiting Japan, where she is still honoured as the 'Mother of the Sea'.

Why did green plastic strips replace the real cut leaves between sushi pieces from the 1960s?

Cutting leaves took too much labour once convenience stores took off in the 1960s, and refrigeration was already extending sushi's shelf life.

In sushi-bar slang, asking for 'oaiso' gets you what?

The bill: oaiso literally means 'compliment', and the word is used in izakaya pubs as well as sushi bars.

Traditional etiquette says nigiri should be dipped which way?

Fish side down, because the already seasoned rice would otherwise soak up too much sauce and fall apart.

Even in formal settings, nigirizushi is traditionally eaten how?

With the fingers, by tradition, though today hands or chopsticks are both acceptable, and a piece is meant to be eaten in one bite.

Unagi, the freshwater eel on sushi, is most popularly prepared kabayaki-style, meaning what?

Grilled and basted with sauce: eel is poisonous unless cooked, so unagi is never served raw, and kabayaki is its best-loved style.

Which lethal poison makes fugu pufferfish dangerous to eat unless expertly prepared?

Tetrodotoxin paralyses the muscles while the victim stays conscious, and no antidote has been approved for human use.

Anisakis, a common hazard of eating raw fish, is what kind of organism?

Roundworm larvae cause anisakiasis, and Japan reports more than 1,000 cases a year, the first case having been described in the Netherlands.

Which US president ate at Sukiyabashi Jiro with Shinzō Abe in April 2014?

Reports conflict on whether he finished the meal, though Abe said Obama called it the best sushi he had ever had.

Why was Sukiyabashi Jiro dropped from the Michelin Guide in 2019?

It takes no public bookings: reservations go through a luxury hotel's concierge, so the first sushi restaurant to win three Michelin stars lost its listing.

The score of Jiro Dreams of Sushi leans heavily on which composer's music?

Philip Glass: director David Gelb, a huge fan, said the composer's repetitive music works as a metaphor for Jiro's work ethic.

Jiro Dreams of Sushi showed Sukiyabashi Jiro as a ten-seat counter in what unlikely location?

A subway station is how the film describes it; the restaurant's official address is the basement floor of the Tsukamoto Sogyo Building.

Kiyoshi Kimura, the 'Tuna King' who paid ¥333.6m for one fish in 2019, runs which chain?

Sushi Zanmai's owner topped the New Year tuna auction again in January 2026, paying about ¥510 million, then a record.

Why did Tsukiji's move to Toyosu run two years late?

Toxic soil and groundwater, left by a former gas plant, needed a costly cleanup with hundreds of wells before the market opened in 2018.

Under 2024 plans, the old Tsukiji market site is to get a stadium for which baseball team?

The Yomiuri Giants, who play at Tokyo Dome, are to anchor the new district, while Tsukiji's outer market of shops still draws tourists.

Why did many Taiwanese add salmon to their names in 2021?

Free sushi: Sushiro let anyone whose name held the characters for salmon eat free with up to five companions, and one student feared he was stuck as 'Salmon Dream'.

Yoshiaki Shiraishi got the idea for conveyor-belt sushi from bottles moving where?

A beer brewery, at Asahi: watching bottles glide along its conveyor gave the short-staffed restaurateur his idea, and the belt took five years to develop.

The word omakase, used for chef's-choice dining, means what?

"I'll leave it up to you", from makaseru, 'to entrust': diners skip the menu, and a typical omakase runs 10 to 20 courses.

Yuki Chizui, who opened an all-female sushi bar, challenges an old belief that women's hands are what?

Too warm for the rice, some traditionalists claim; Chizui's Nadeshico Sushi opened in Akihabara in 2010.

Traditionally made gari turns slightly pink only when the ginger is what?

Very young ginger blushes pink on its own, while many commercial brands fake the colour with beet juice, red shiso or food dye.

The Japanese word ikura, for the orange roe on gunkan sushi, was borrowed from which language?

It comes from ikra, the Russian word for caviar or fish roe in general.

Black tobiko gets its colour from which natural ingredient?

Squid ink turns tobiko black, just as yuzu makes it pale orange and wasabi makes it green and spicy.

Unagi is traditionally eaten on which hot-summer day in Japan?

Day of the Ox in midsummer is unagi's special day, and Lake Hamana in Hamamatsu is ringed with restaurants famed for the eel.

Anago, the saltwater eel, is usually prepared how for sushi?

Simmered anago is the sushi standard, while the same saltwater eel is deep-fried when it goes into tempura.

Connoisseurs traditionally ordered which sushi first to judge a chef's skill?

Tamago was the test piece back when most shops made their own, so its quality revealed a chef's technique before any fish arrived.

Hamachi is often listed as 'yellowtail tuna' but is really what kind of fish?

An amberjack of the jack family Carangidae, not a tuna; farmed fish are sold as hamachi at about 3 kg and as buri at about 5 kg.

Uni, the sea urchin served on gunkan sushi, is which part of the animal?

Its gonads, often euphemised as roe, are the only meaty, edible part and can retail in Japan for as much as ¥40,000 per kilogram.

Record postwar catches of which fish in Hokkaido spurred Japan to develop frozen surimi?

Alaska pollock caught for its roe left piles of excess flesh, and researchers found that adding salt kept the frozen paste from turning spongy.

In the Pacific Northwest, the Philadelphia roll often goes by what name?

Seattle roll is the Northwest name for it, a smoked-salmon roll with the rice on the outside.

A spider roll is named for the legs of which ingredient poking out of its ends?

Soft-shell crab is fried and rolled whole, so its legs stick out like a spider's; the name is used mainly in North America.

The rainbow roll takes its name from what?

Colourful fish slices on top, such as tuna, yellowtail and salmon with avocado, are draped over an inside-out California-style roll.

Which actor co-founded the first Nobu restaurant in Tribeca in 1994?

Robert De Niro, a regular at Matsuhisa's earlier restaurant, urged him to open in New York, and the chef later appeared alongside him in Casino.

Spam musubi, grilled Spam on rice wrapped in nori, is a signature snack of where?

Hawaii eats more Spam per person than any other US state, and its L&L Hawaiian Barbecue chain declared August 8 National Spam Musubi Day in 2021.

The yanagi-ba, the long knife sushi chefs use to slice raw fish, is named after which tree?

Willow, yanagi, for the blade's long, pliant shape; chefs pull a slice in one long stroke rather than chopping down.

The Daio Wasabi Farm, whose watermills appear in Kurosawa's film Dreams, is in which prefecture?

Nagano's Daio farm in Azumino covers 15 hectares, making it one of Japan's largest wasabi farms.

Wasabi belongs to the same plant family as which vegetable?

Cabbage, broccoli and mustard all belong to Brassicaceae, the cabbage family, along with wasabi, whose bite resembles hot mustard's.

Where does a sushi chef traditionally tuck the wasabi in a piece of nigiri?

Between the fish and rice, where the topping covers the wasabi and stops its flavour fading, which fresh wasabi does quickly when exposed.

Japanese sushi demand has pushed Atlantic tuna stocks toward what?

Severe overfishing: by 2009 the eastern Atlantic stock of the most prized sushi tuna had fallen by 72% over 40 years.