Sushi began as a way to keep fish from rotting
Long before nigiri counters, Japanese cooks packed salted fish in boiled rice so lactic fermentation would slow spoilage. Centuries later the rice became the point of the dish, fermentation shrank to days, and Edo-period hand-formed sushi dropped the wait entirely—turning a storage trick into global fast food.
Washoku centers on rice with miso soup and seasonal sides: grilled or raw seafood, pickles, broth-cooked vegetables, soba or udon, tempura, sukiyaki, and oden. Chinese influence shaped early cooking; Western and Chinese-inspired dishes—ramen, gyōza, curry, hamburgers—were later adapted locally. Buddhist norms long discouraged meat; Emperor Tenmu banned eating horses, dogs, monkeys, and chickens in 675 AD, and later rules barred most mammals while counting whale as fish. Public meat eating returned with Meiji Westernization; an 1872 New Year feast modeled European menus, and tonkatsu and yakiniku followed.
Without much meat, spice stayed light—sansho and black pepper more than garlic—and fish carried protein on an island diet. Oil was traditionally minimized. Table grammar still shows that history: ichijū-sansai, "one soup, three sides," descends from spare Zen temple meals of the twelfth-century Kamakura period. Rice sits in its own bowl; each okazu gets a separate plate so flavors do not touch—a classical Chinese formality Japan kept after China largely abandoned it, with donburi as a popular exception. Diners say itadakimasu before eating and go-chisō-sama deshita afterward.
Seating etiquette places the honored guest farthest from the entrance, often before a tokonoma alcove; hosts sit nearest the door. Formal posture is seiza kneeling; casual floor sitting differs by gender. Individual box tables dominated before the nineteenth century, family chabudai lows rose around 1900, then Western chairs spread. In 2011 Japan passed France for most Michelin three-star restaurants; by 2018 Tokyo still led cities on that count. UNESCO added Japanese cuisine to its Intangible Heritage List in 2013.
Source: Japanese cuisine
