Japan is an island nation, its surrounding seas warmed by Kuroshio, the plankton-rich Japan Current, and abundant with an astonishing variety of fish and shellfish. The island themselves are moutainous, and what little arable land exists is terraced and carefully cultivated to coax rice and a few other crops form the earth. Japan has always fed its dense population from the sea and the rice fields, its cuisine emphasizing what nature provides. Sushi, the combination of raw fish and seasoned rice that seems so exotic to foreigners, is a supremely logical food in Japan. Sushi began one century ago in Japan as a method of preserving fish. It is told that the origins of sushi came form countries of Southeastern Asia. Cleaned, raw fish were pressed between layers of salt and weighted with a stone. After a few weeks, the stone was removed and replaced with a light cover, and a few months after that, the fermented fish and rice were considered ready to eat. Some restaurants in Tokyo still serve this original style of sushi, called narezushi made with freshwater carp. Its flavor is so strong that it obscures the fish's identity altogether, and narezushi is something of an acquired taste.

It wasn't until the 1900's that a clever chef named Yohei decided to forego the fermentation and serve sushi in something resembling its present form. It became very popular and two distinct styles emerged Kansai style, from the city of Osaka in the Kansai region, and Edo style, from Tokyo, which was then called Edo. Osaka has always been the commercial capital of Japan, and the rice merchants there developed sushi that consisted primarily of seasoned rice mixed with other ingredients and formed into decorative, edible packages. Tokyo, located on a bay then rich with fish and sehllfish, produced nigirizushi, featuring a select bit of seafood on a small pad of seasoned rice. Although the ornamental sushi of the Kansai region is still very popular, it is nigirizushi that foreigners are familiar with. A charming legend has it that long ago an old man and his wife charitably left some rice in the nest of an osprey living near their house. Later they found fish in the nest, ate it and were delighted by the intriguing flavor their leftover rice had imparted to the fish as it underwent natural fermentation. This may only be a story, but it agrees with the historical account of ancient sushi preparation when vinegared rice was layered with raw fish and allowed to ferment. The rice was then discarded and the fish sliced and served with fresh rice. In the eighteenth century, as transportation systems developed, people were able to get fresh fish on a daily basis from local ports. A clever chef named Yohei decided to forgo the fermentation and serve sushi in something resembling its present form. This was the beginning of modern Sushi preparation known as Edomae Sushi (which is Tokyo style). It became very popular and two distinct styles emerged. The Kansai style, from the city of Osaka in the Kansai region. And Edo style, from Tokyo, which was then called Edo. Osaka has always been the commercial capital of Japan, and the rice merchants there developed sushi that consisted primarily of seasoned rice mixed with other ingredients to form decorative, edible packages. Tokyo, located on a bay which was then rich with fish and shellfish, produced Nigiri Sushi. Nigiri Sushi featured a select bit of seafood on a small pad of seasoned rice. Although the ornamental sushi of the Kansai region is still very popular, it is the Nigiri Sushi that the foreigners are familiar with. Sushi is perhaps Japan's best-known contribution to world cuisine. The choicest, tender morsels of fresh raw fish are artfully arranged on individual "fingers" of vinegared rice by a skilled chef, then placed on a gleaming cypress counter in front of the eagerly waiting customer a few seconds later. Absolute freshness of the fish is the all-important factor for good sushi. In fact, some devotees prefer their sushi as early in the day as possible. Although sushi seems like a simple food (it's not even cooked, after all), sushi preparation is actually a highly developed discipline, requiring years of apprenticeship under a master chef. If you watch closely, you may notice some of the chef's special techniques, such as dipping his hands in cold vinegared water before handling the fish, which both keeps the fish cool and fresh and prevents germs from his hands from contaminating the fresh fish. Sushi chefs always work quickly when handling the seafood, to keep it from heating in their hands, and they rarely talk while they're actually preparing the sushi.

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