SUSHI-寿司

We would have gotten to this eventually, but we might as well do it now...

The dish that is synonymous with Japan is actually of Chinese origin, spreading from southeast asia, through China, and then eventually to Japan.

Now, you may go to the store and buy a California roll or a dynamite roll, but these aren't authentic, just westernized versions of the Japanese recipe. While there may be many imitations throughout the western world  there are actually only 6, purely Japanese, incarnations:

Chirashizushi- a bowl of vinegared rice, served with raw fish.

Inarizushi- a pouch made of tofu filled with rice

Makizushi- the famous cylinder-shaped sushi

Narezushi- Its name literally means "matured sushi", which is appropriate enough because it takes 6 months for it to even be edible. Narezushi is skinned and gutted fish that have been stuffed with salt and stored in a barrel for half a year....yum?

Nigirizushi- long rectangular blocks of vinegared rice adorned with raw or cooked meat.

Oshizushi- This is a type of perfectly square sushi that originated from the Kansai region of Japan. It is similar to nigirizushi, just larger.

Maids.....This may get weird...

I think we can all agree that this is one of the general "weird" things about Japanese culture. I mean, I don't think you could walk out onto the streets of LA or NYC and see a girl in a maid outfit handing you a flyer, or maybe you just live in a different part of town. If you think this is strange, you should. This aspect of Japan's culture actually stems from the fetishes (yeah...) of hardcore anime, manga, and video game fans. The entire concept is based on the fact that these "maids" are the physical, real-life, embodiment of types of fictional characters that Otaku (Super-Fans) drool over.

Maids can be seen (usually) in 1 of 3 places:

1. Maid Cafes, where the entire female staff are dressed in maid outfits.
2. Streets, where they can be seen shouting, waving, and acting as cute as possible to get the attention of passerby, while handing out flyers.
3. Select "Hostess Clubs": This idea takes the "Maid Cafe" concept several steps further. Basically, it is a club where men (or women) can go to have drinks with, talk with, and enjoy time with "Maids". Think of it as a night club, but where the staff are paid to interact with you on a personal level. Because of this level of interaction, the lines between entertainer and paid "escort" are sometimes blurred. The "Maids" are sometimes paid under the table by patrons to come home with them for the night and...well, you know the rest. The saddest part is that a large chunk of these entertainers are under the age of 20, the legal age of consent in Japan.

Yeah...it got weird...

W...T...F