"Sushi was 'in,' along with racquetball and peach"

November 8, 2021 1:26 PM

A history of sushi in the United States -- a story not just of '80s culinary fashions and the economic rise of Japan but of the financial empire of the Unification Church, whose disciples brought sushi to cities all over America. As you scroll, an accompanying silent animation dovetails with the story. (If this causes difficulty, it can be avoided by using the reader mode.)

Archived.
Previously on Metafilter, fifteen years ago -- a short story about Moon's sushi concerns at a now broken link.

posted by Countess Elena (11 comments total)

(incidentally, not that anyone asked me, but the thing about that scene in The Breakfast Club that they mention is that the sushi would have had to have been out of the refrigerator for like four hours)
posted by Countess Elena at 1:27 PM on November 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

This does explain why sushi is so ubiquitous in the US, while other Japanese eatery staples that might appeal to Americans (e.g., gyuudon, zarusoba, curry rice) are rarely seen.
posted by Faint of Butt at 2:06 PM on November 8, 2021 [1 favorite]

hmm I have noticed that a lot of "Japanese" places are operated by Koreans.

~that ~would ~explain ~it
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 2:21 PM on November 8, 2021

going to Japan in mid-March, after 20+ years away -- first stop is gonna be this
posted by Heywood Mogroot III at 2:24 PM on November 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

"Let's go get sushi, and not pay!"
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 2:34 PM on November 8, 2021 [5 favorites]

It's amazing that they still have such a stranglehold on sushi-grade fish imports 15 years later.
posted by me3dia at 2:43 PM on November 8, 2021

As a person who grew up way inland with not much sushi or any real seafood to speak of my first encounter with the idea was on Doug. Doug's hip biker grandma or something was in town and they went to eat sushi and Doug was disgusted by the idea. And he didn't want to do it. But then he tried it and was like "Mmmmm". And after that I wanted to try sushi.

I don't know where I'm going with this but anyway now I like sushi and I miss Doug.
posted by downtohisturtles at 7:14 PM on November 8, 2021 [2 favorites]

the thing about that scene in The Breakfast Club that they mention is that the sushi would have had to have been out of the refrigerator for like four hours

ROFLMAO. After all these years, how had that NEVER occurred to me before? Hahaha! (Ok, so, maybe she had ice packs in the bag with it?)
posted by dnash at 9:44 PM on November 8, 2021

Just when you think you understand how much bad juju goes into the supply chain of whatever it is you love to consume, there are whole other layers to uncover
posted by treepour at 9:18 AM on November 9, 2021

♩ You can eat a bunch of sushi and forget to leave a tip ♩
posted by Metro Gnome at 2:17 PM on November 9, 2021 [1 favorite]

I got time for sashimis. I got so much time for sushis.
posted by MrBadExample at 10:56 AM on November 10, 2021