The Evolution of Sushi
And How Sushi survived the Post-WWII Occupation
Just like how the atomic bombs blew up Hiroshima and Nagasaki, one of the many things the GHQ nuked was the Japanese sushi culture. Obviously, sushi managed to survive these hard times and is now an internationally accredited dish. But the “traditional” cuisine that we take for granted is actually transformed from its original form, embattled and bruised after overcoming hardships in the form of various regulations, political motivations, and changing consumer demand.
Origins
Sushi has a very long history, deriving from what was a method to store food over long periods of time using a salt-based preservative. The word Sushi derives from two words, “Su”（鮓） and “Shi”（鮨）, both of which describe ancient methods of salt and/or rice based fermentation of fish. This practice dates back over a thousand years and is most often associated with the Nara period (8th century), where fish would be packed with rice and salt and stored in cellars as it cured over the seasons, similar to cheese or prosciutto. The rice ends up too gooey to be edible, but the fish is thoroughly cured and though salty, tasty. Some regions of Japan still eat their “sushi” this way. This type of sushi is called narezushi, or nama-narezushi.
By the Kamakura period (12th — 14th centuries), as technology advanced, the food culture also evolved. Chiefly, the discovery of vinegar and the eventual application of soy sauce made the need to store fish over long periods of time unnecessary. The biggest benefit of this was being able to “mix” the curation process with edible rice. By simply taking some rice, pouring some vinegar over it, and layering on fish meat, people could easily create a preservative snack that was less salty, immediately edible, and was more filling. Here are some examples from the present day of what is referred to as hako-zushi:
Fast track to the 1800s Edo period — where in the bustling streets of what was at the time the world’s most populous city, people needed fast food, and sushi competed vigorously to serve that purpose. To compete with other fast foods, sushi had to be fast to prepare, easy to eat, and tasty. The curation process of vinegar also evolved, and by this time period to a point where it could be mixed with sushi and eaten immediately. This type of sushi came to be known as fast-sushi, or hayazushi. Today when we think of “classic” sushi, we think of small bite-size portions of fresh fish served from across a counter, as opposed to modern day fast food sushi served in plastic trays. However the fast food element is much more reflective of sushi’s modern origins, as can be seen in this Ukiyoe woodblock print from the time:
In the woodblock painting, you will also notice something written on the sign of the sushi shop. You guessed it — it says “Sushi”. But the character used here is one of the earliest examples of the set of Chinese characters used for the word sushi, or “寿司” today. The modern day set of characters is supposed to be a play-on-words which basically means happiness or longevity. It was another way to appeal to the Edo masses and stand out from the competition, which included soba shops, eel shops, and hot pot stops.
One last point to note is the size of sushi from the Edo period. Each individual piece was much bigger than that of modern sushi, as can be seen when looking at the proportions in this woodblock painting:
The sushi is so big it looks like it could cover the whole palm of her hand. Also the variety of fish was much more limited, with the most diverse of palettes looking something like this:
WWII and GHQ
So how did we get to where we are now? Well sushi is take-out food, and right after WWII, Tokyo would have looked something like this:
With almost half of the city burned down, takeout was probably the least of the citizens’ worries. But at the same time you have to ask, how did people get food in the first place?
GHQ was in charge of handling all of this during the post-war occupation period. One way they faced this issue was food stamps. The population was allocated a certain amount of food which was imported from overseas as donations for the recovery effort. Another way was through designated stores. GHQ approved certain businesses to operate and sell food to customers. In fact, there was a general ban on restaurants or take out, and the approved businesses were the exception. So sushi was basically non-existent for around two years.
That doesn’t mean to say people accepted the situation. Ex-sushi chefs in particular were eager to find a way to get their businesses back up and running. Their persistence paid off, but with it came some changes in the style of sushi. There were two bans in particular that the sushi community overcame that led to its swift recovery.
One: Finding the right “neta”
What is your favorite type of sushi? In other words, what “neta”, or ingredient, do you like on your rice? Some common answers are maguro, salmon, squid… All of these are sea fish. And to catch sea fish, well, you need to go fish in the ocean. The thing is, GHQ had a ban on fishing in the open sea! It wasn’t a secret that fish was an important part of the Japanese diet, and there are many rumors as to why GHQ went so far to ban it. One prominent rumor for example, where there isn’t much written literature, is that there was an attempt to change the Japanese diet from rice-based to bread-based, and to create an eco-system similar to the Marshall Plan where basically Western countries could profit off of food-based exports to Japan. Instead, the sushi chefs decided that they would apply for fishing rights in-land. River fish is not as popular as sea fish, as they tend to generally be less meaty and more smelly. Maybe GHQ thought the same, so in the end they did approve this license.
Two: Giving up “restauranting” and going for “processing”
The jist of this loophole is: if you can’t sell sushi, then why not make sushi? Instead of having a restaurant with seats and tables, taking orders and serving customers, the sushi chefs came up with the idea of processing people’s food for them. If a customer brings rice, then for a fee, the store can churn out a small set of sushi. The restaurant is not providing rice, which was one of the technical definitions of a restaurant under the GHQ ban, and the stores did not provide a place for people to stay or sit. Although there were no sea fish, river fish and some other ingredients like egg and cucumbers did just fine, as people were just as happy to lay hands on whatever kind of sushi they could get.
Another consequence of jumping these loopholes was the size of the sushi. Since the stores were now asking customers to bring-your-own-rice, the amount had to become standardized so that they could run an effective business. Using the traditional counting system for rice, they decided to go with 2合(2 “go”), which is about 300g. They did want to provide variety too, so the standard sushi set became a set of 5 sushi and 3 rolls. That’s how we got our modern size and layout of sushi!
Sushi Today
As technology evolved over the decades and more effort was put into getting the most fresh fish to customers, sushi went from being best known as a blue collar energy bar sort of food to a world-renown delicacy to be enjoyed with fine sake and company. Remnants of the various stages of the evolution of sushi are prevalent around Japan today, but the sushi we think of has beautifully survived a sometimes inventive and sometimes brutal past.
Disclaimer: This story is meant to be an informative story, and not a scholarly article worthy of citation.
