Japanese Cuisine in the United States

When I first came to NY in the 50th there was no Japanese restaurant in the city . In fact there were not many Japanese in Manhattan either. If I remember correctly there were only about 1,000 Japanese in the whole city. So my friends at school were curious to know what kind of food we ate in Japan.

When I told them sushi which I described raw fish and rice they thought we were barbaric. Time has changed in half a century and there is a sushi restaurant in every corner of street in NY and sushi are sold like sandwiches even in supermarkets.

However most of the sushi restaurants and also sushi sold in supermarkets are not made by Japanese but by other Asian cooks. Therefore as a Japanese I wouldn’t call them authentic sushi but they are good enough as I do crave for Japanese food
when I am away from Japan.

My father joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and was sent by the government to learn English in Boston before the world war II. So I am quite certain there was no Japanese restaurant in town and perhaps no means of getting Japanese food in those days. He must have really craved for Japanese rice as I remember his close friend reading the words of condolences at my father’s funeral. He said:

When Jun (my father’s name) and we were in the United States as young men I remember visiting a Japanese elderly couple together. When we walked in the door there was smell of mochi (gluey rice)and my father smiled at my friend saying that they would at last have a Japanese meal. However, that smell turned out to be toast and he described how much my father was disappointed.

Yes, food is such an important factor in our lives. Each culture created their own cuisine suited to their race. I really admire Japanese predecessors who had no access to Japanese food and had to adjust themselves to American food. Yes I feel very luckily to have easy access to Japanese food even here in New York.