Saturday, March 31, 2012

Article: How Sushi Went Global

16 comments:

  1. I'm not much of a sushi fan, but I do like seafood...anyways I thought it was interesting to see how tuna spread over from Japan to the rest of the globe. What I found particularly interesting was the claim that most Americans see globalization as a West-to-East movement, that America is the export of globalization and other cultures want a piece of American culture. It's also interesting to read that as sushi became more popular in the U.S., it was the classy and "culturally educated" that was targeted by the market.

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  2. It was kind of neat to see how sushi spread across the globe. I didn't realize really how much fishing was done for sushi before this, or really how big of an industry it was. I have also noticed the prestige associated with Japanese food in general and the tendency to at least fake Japanese chefs at such places to draw in customers

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  3. Japan is in a big market for being the primary market for fresh tuna, the biggest fish seller. In turn, from different fish we have the popular meal of sushi, something I am a big fan of. I have noticed the growth in sushi and Japanese cuisine over the past few years. This new classy and culturally educated popularizing market has created globalization from Japan to the rest of the world.

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  4. This article was very interesting and informative. Sushi is a very fast growing type of food, especially in the United States. I was not aware of how sushi originated and traveled to many countries around the world (not just the United States and Japan). I also find it interesting that Japanese restaurants are very common in the United States, though this "type" of Japanese may not be exactly like the food prepared in Japan. Though sushi is seen now in many restaurants, grocery stores and airports doesn't mean that it has lost its status as Japanese cultural poverty. Globalization has caused the sushi industry to grow and produce franchises all over the world. After reading this article, I believe we will all think twice about how sushi originated and the history about the Japanese creation.

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  5. I too have noticed how much sushi has been growing around here in recent years. About a month or so ago me and some friends have started going to Tsunami's every Monday night for sushi and cold one, two things that weren't seen going together very often a few years ago. Also, I too thought it was interesting that the Japanese food prepared in the popular restaurants in America is different from real food prepared in Japan. I knew from my experience in working at San Jose and comparing the food we serve there to the food that the owners fix for personal enjoyment that this was the case with Mexican food in America versus authentic but I had never wondered if this occurred with other cultures.

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  6. This article was very interesting to me and relevant since lately I have noticed the increasing trend in how popular sushi has gotten. It was interesting to see how globalization works especially with a cuisine that I enjoy. One thing that the article pointed out that I found to be true is that Americans tend to think that globalization only works one way, with things like Disney spreading to Japan, but we don't realize that it actually spreads our way as well with things like Pokemon, Nintendo and Sushi. Before this article I never really thought of how globalization worked, and how all cultures have begun to influence each other. I did find it interesting how the article pointed out that even though Japan has influenced our culture with Sushi, American restaurants sometimes make a version of sushi that isn't exactly like Japanese culture but eating it is still a sign of status. I think this is true as well with many other types of cuisines that we market in the United States as being from other cultures such as Italian, Greek, and Mexican food.

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  7. I thought this article was very interesting because I have seen how popular sushi has gotten in the past couple of years. Although I do not like sushi, I have many friends who love it and eat it on a regular basis. It is also interesting to see a way that Japan has influenced us here in the US. As Americans, we tend to think that our cultural ideals have helped in Westernizing Japan. We have seen McDonalds and American music become popular in Japan, but we do not think of how Japan could possibly have an influence on us, but with sushi they have done exactly that. Also, it was cool to see at the beginning of the article that the way the tuna is sold is so old fashioned: you show up at the market, you place a bid, you buy a fish. This was just cool to see because I am used to a world where everything business related involves technology.

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  8. Prior to reading this article, I was unaware that the tuna market in the Untied States was so heavily controlled by Japanese pricing and trends. It is hard for me to picture tough New England fishermen relying so heavily on Japanese businessman for their livelihood, but I guess capitalism makes for strange bedfellows. I find it interesting that, although the market for tuna is globalized and the prices are controlled by one major nation, the techniques and strategies for catching and raising the fish vary from culture to culture. I would have assumed that, with such a valuable commodity, fishermen around the world would have quickly determined which methods were most effective and quickly put those methods into practice globally. However, the continuing practice of many different fishing techniques shows how traditional aspects of particular cultures can remain and thrive even in a connected, global economy.

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  9. It is very interesting how tuna has become a worldwide phenomenon. I would definitely agree with the statement that it, and sushi, are still thought of as a part of Japanese culture. Although Tuna is a part of Japanese culture, I find it very interesting how the rest of the world caters to their tuna needs. This is even crazier when you consider how clearly volatile a market commercial tuna fishing is. I do appreciate the fact that tuna farming is still not a huge practice. For such a lucrative product that has been around for quite a while now, you would assume that several serious tuna farms where they annually grow them would have sprung up by now. I personally love Bluefin and I hope it becomes even more globalized although hopefully not at the expense of a regional economy.

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  10. It is very interesting how tuna has become a worldwide phenomenon. I would definitely agree with the statement that it, and sushi, are still thought of as a part of Japanese culture. Although Tuna is a part of Japanese culture, I find it very interesting how the rest of the world caters to their tuna needs. This is even crazier when you consider how clearly volatile a market commercial tuna fishing is. I do appreciate the fact that tuna farming is still not a huge practice. For such a lucrative product that has been around for quite a while now, you would assume that several serious tuna farms where they annually grow them would have sprung up by now. I personally love Bluefin and I hope it becomes even more globalized although hopefully not at the expense of a regional economy.

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  11. The most interesting thing about this article to me is how strongly the Sushi industry ended up impacting America. Economically, it stimulated our economy in many ways. It created more jobs, we began to export these fish to Japan, we began to massively consume it, etc. And then there is the uniqueness of what its consumption indicated. Sushi came off as a someone "higher class" type thing to eat, as mentioned in the article. And even today, although there are lower key sushi restaurants, some of the nicest restaurants around can be primary for sushi. It's also very interesting how quickly and strongly this food impacted America. It's easy for us to think of Western ideas and such making its way across the globe (ie McDonalds), but it doesn't seem too often such an explicit "fad" comes from the East.

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  12. I found this article really interesting, partially because I love Sushi. It was interesting to see how Sushi has become a worldwide phenomenon and has impacted countries' economics. I never realized that the tuna market in the U.S. was really controlled by the Japanese pricing and trends. Another thing that surprised me was how big the industry is. A lot goes into this industry. Overall, I enjoyed this article.

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  13. I love sushi, and it was interesting to find out how it is spread globally from Japan. I did not realize how much of an impact it had on America and around the world. But I have noticed in the past few years, that it has become more popular here. Everytime my friends and I want to do dinner, I'm always like "Let me guess, Sushi?"... Neways, I liked the part explaining how most Americans think globalization is spread from West to East, but the sushi market has done the opposite and is controlled by the Japanese and their pricing. This was a very informative article that I enjoyed.

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  14. I am not a fan of sushi (or seafood) though I have tried it, and found this article to be interesting. The fact that most Americans think globalization is from West to East is completely incorrect, not only with sushi, but with items such as the Nintendo and Pokemon, as the article stated. However, the most interesting part to me was when it described how before bluefin tuna were in demand for sushi, they were just sports fishing prizes, and that commercial fishers would sell the tuna for cat food if they could, or throw it away. It is crazy how one popular craze can change the economy so drastically, from throwing the tuna away, to tuna becoming an important part of the popular demand that is sushi.

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  15. I have always been very into sushi, and especially raw tuna, so this article is very interesting to me. I knew Japan was the largest consumer of seafood worldwide, but I had no idea that it controlled our sushi industry and prices so much. I think it's also fascinating how we see sushi as being such a japanese tradition, but most of the sushi we eat is americanized. An example of this is cooked shrimp on rye bread, which nobody would consider to be sushi nowadays. Another interesting fact in this regard is that the beloved California Roll, was actually created in Canada. As the article clearly points out, sushi is only becoming more and more popular.

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  16. Globalization is a very interesting and intimidating thing. One small's country's demand for a certain fish raising prices and demand all over the globe is not something I am excited about. As well, bluefin tuna are quickly approaching extinction due to overfishing and the destruction of habitats, mating areas, and fisherman exploiting migration routes. Why was that not addressed in the article? How is the extinction of an species of fish less important than the global demand for sushi?

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