Sushi has a very large local importance in Japan. Not only is it a staple of Japanese society but it also has become a staple of modern delicacies. Sushi went from being nothing more than a common food to one of the worlds most popular foods. In Japan however, sushi is much more than just a simple food, it is an embodiment of their history. Sushi may not be a very ancient food, but it is definitely a food with a lot of culture embedded into it. Sushi is a center piece of Japanese culture. It could be related to hot dogs in America. When many people think of hot dogs or hamburgers they think of America, and how it is a staple of American culture. Sushi could be thought of as the same way. It is a staple of Japanese culture. Not just sushi, but also tuna has become a large part of the Japanese culture. Japan has the highest demand for tuna out of any country in the world, and tuna is imported into Japan from places such as Canada, America, and even the Mediterranean. The Sushi industry has also helped shaped Japan into the nation that it is today. Japan is home to the number 1 fish market in the world, the Tsukiji market. On average, the market sees around 5.6 billion US dollars of sea food go through it each year. This is equivalent to about 600 billion yen. Sushi has helped transform Japan into a globalization power, where as before they were incredibly secluded. Growing taste and desire for sushi has forged Japan into a global seafood hub with its seafood influence spreading around the globe. None of this would have been possible without the popularity of sushi and the innovations that allowed Japan to spread its culture and influence.
A birds-eye view of the Tuskiji fish market
Global Importance
Sushi is not only important in Japanese culture and history, but it was a key stone in shaping the globalized food market into what it is today. Sushi would not be as popular today without advances in modern food globalization and transportation that were made simply to transport raw fish, more specifically tuna. Tuna used to be dismissed by many Japanese diners because of its high fatty content. But as the Japanese grew to love the fatty cuts of tuna, known as toro, demand for tuna went up not only in Japan, but around the globe as well. This meant that tuna fishermen had to adapt to the changing demands. Since the demand for tuna was rising, more fish had to be caught. However, tuna is a fish that spoils very easily, which means that fisherman need to return to shore quickly after a good catch in ordered to process it. This meant that new innovations had to be made in order to allow fishermen to stay out longer and catch more tuna to meet the increasing demands. New boats were created that are especially massive tuna factories. Tuna can be processed on board the ship. These boats can also travel incredibly far, farther than any previous fishing boat to date. The combination of on-board processing, more fuel, and longer travel capabilities made these new fishing boats able to meet growing demands, but also fish in waters that were previously unreachable. Not only has tuna/sushi been the desire behind fishing innovations, but also innovations in global food shipping and packaging. Tuna depends meant that fish had to be shipped across the globe without any damage to the meat or any sort of freezer burn. New ways of shipping the fish, such as stuffing the stomach with ice and using insulation in special boxes to store the fish meant that the fish could be shipped long distances without any major damage or any sort of spoiling of the fish along the way. Innovations like these have helped the global food industry be able to ship valuable and fragile cargo long distances without any major difficulties. All of these great modernizations in the global food shipping industry have sushi to thank.
Fresh yellow fin tuna is stiffed with ice and sealed in insulated and cooled containers.