There are many facts about sushi that don't quite fit in the normal FAQ area that are still interesting enough to warrant being included on our website.

• In Japan, an apprentice sushi chef spends two years learning to cook and season the rice, and another three learning to prepare fish, before he is allowed to work behind the sushi bar.
• Approximately 80% of the world's bluefin tuna catch is used for sushi.
• Sushi dates back to at least the second century A.D., beginning as a method of preserving fish in China.
• The highest price ever paid for a sushi grade Bluefin Tuna was $173,600 for a 444 pound fish ($391/lb) on January 5th, 2001 at the Tsukiji Fish Market in Tokyo.
• The word “sushi” doesn’t refer to fish at all—it refers to rice that has been seasoned with vinegar, sugar, and salt.
• Inside-out rolls are the mainstay of American-ized sushi and is not traditional Japanese. They didn’t exist in Japan until recently, when they were imported from the United States.
• Many sushi chefs believe that the customer eats not just with his mouth, but with his eyes. Preparing sushi is like creating a Zen garden.
• The knives used by sushi chefs are the direct descendants of samurai swords, and the blades must be sharpened and reshaped every day.
• The priciest ingredient of modern sushi—bluefin tuna belly—was once so despised by the Japanese that they considered it unfit for human consumption.
• Among sushi toppings, clams actually have more flavor than any of the fish. At the sushi bars of old Tokyo, customers often preferred boiled clams over raw slices of fish.
• Sushi does not mean "raw fish". Sashimi does. Sushi is "the marriage of vinegar rice to other ingredients".