The origin of Sushi starts around the middle to late 1800s. Sushi began in Japan as a way of preserving fish. Cleaned, raw fish was packed in beds of vinegared rice and between layers of salt. It was then weighted with a stone to compress the fish. After a few weeks, the stone was removed and replaced with a cover. The fish would then be stored for future use of up to a few months. Between the salt and the lactic acid produced by the fermenting vinegared rice, the fish were well preserved. This is the original version of sushi known as Oshi-zushi or pressed sushi. Another name of it is Kansai style sushi. The rice merchants of Osaka are the ones who developed this method of preserving fish. This style of sushi can still be found today although the taste and flavor is so strong that it is said to obscure the taste of the fish altogether. Kansai sushi consists primarily of seasoned rice mixed with other ingredients and then formed into decorative and edible packages. As we can see, it was originally due to business that sushi was created; the purpose of preserving fish for later sale, and then afterwards, a new style of food that was made convenient and decorative for the consumers. It will be shown in the next section that it was again through business that sushi entered the U.S. and became popular.

The creation and development of sushi did not cease however. It was not until later in the 1900s, according to the Sushi Club, that a chef named Yohei decided to forego the fermentation of the rice and fish. He started to serve sushi in the form currently seen today. This was known as Edo style sushi from Tokyo, when it was called Edo. In addition, its other name is Nigiri-Zushi, and this is the most common form of sushi seen today. It consists of a select bit of seafood (raw fish) on a small pad of vinegared rice. Usually, the chefs mold a bit of rice into a shape and then top it with the fish.

Other forms such as Maki-Zushi and Chirashi-Zushi were later developed for variety. Maki-Zushi is "rolled sushi." Strips of fish on a bed of rice are rolled in a sheet of seaweed. This roll is then sliced into pieces and then served. Chirashi-Zushi is known as "scattered sushi". Here, pieces of vegetables, fish, and other ingredients are scattered over a bed of rice. It often makes its appearances in lunch boxes and taken on picnics, and is also often sold on the Japanese railways. The aspect of a special container plays an important part in the emergence of sushi in the U.S. and will be shown in the next section.

Sushi can be served and made in a variety of ways but it always is consistent in one ingredient – vinegared rice. This is where the word sushi came from. Su, meaning vinegar, and meshi, meaning rice, were combined into "sumeshi." Soon afterwards, people pronounced the word quickly enough for it to be later shortened to sushi. Since the creation of sushi, it has become a staple in the Japanese diet. It makes use of Japan’s two most prominent food resources, fish and rice. Considering the fact that sushi is a very healthy food and it is made into convenient packages relatively cheaply, it logically became the perfect food for the masses.

The historic accounts of sushi’s emergence into the United States are few and far between. Although Japanese restaurants with sushi were available since the middle to late 1970s, sushi did not become popular until about ten years later. Sushi first appeared in the West Coast of the United States, particularly around California. This was due to its proximity to the Pacific Rim as well as its large Asian population. The introduction of sushi was encouraged and fostered by the Asian population and its popularity began to spread slowly. However, sushi’s popularity did not and could not rise from word of mouth by fans alone. The very idea and concept behind sushi had to be marketed or sold to the public in order to gain popular acceptance and to avoid becoming a momentary food fad.

One of the critical moments in the rise of sushi popularity was its appearance in West Coast supermarkets. According to the publication known as Supermarket Business, one of the earliest accounts involves the company called Advanced Fresh Concepts (AFC). It has operated sushi bars under contract before but then decided to develop its sushi program for use in stores. It first launched the trend in September of 1986 with a Vons store in Marina Del Rey in California. The purpose was to take on the responsibilities of selling sushi in stores so the storeowners do not have to deal with the hassles of selling fresh sushi. By nature sushi is labor intensive in that the chefs must be well trained to prepare the food properly with care for health standards. In addition, the fish must be fresh; otherwise the food will spoil and become harmful. It then becomes a challenge to have a reliable source of fresh fish as well as efficiently managing the production of sushi so that waste and spoilage is minimized.

AFC decided to fill this marketing niche by effectively meeting the needs of selling sushi and then offering its services to stores. The stores would receive a percent of sales from AFC and would not be at too much risk. Initially the introduction of sushi in stores causes a drop in sales, after some time sales develop a rising trend. In order to facilitate the profitableness of sushi, it had to be marketed to the public. Once a good image was established, people would become more accepting to the idea of sushi and it would eventually become popular.

As with any new idea or food, it will be some time before it is accepted into the culture. Sushi bars and restaurants existed but had to compete with the rise in popularity of the fast food market, which was becoming more and more profitable. Unfortunately, sushi bars and restaurants were expensive and time consuming for the consumers. The consumers attitude around the 1980s was to have convenient and fast food to allow the consumer to continue on with the day with minimal time being lost. Hence pizza and hamburgers became quite popular, which did not leave much room for sushi to enter the market.

AFC, among many other firms, developed the skills and resources to sell sushi and still be cost efficient. Sushi had to be marketed a certain way to compete with the fast food industry. Subsequently, sushi was made to emulate the most desired traits of fast food. Sushi was portable and could be made quickly and was comparable in cost of other fast foods. However this would not be enough for sushi to become popular. The healthiness and exoticness of sushi ultimately attracted the attention of consumers. When sushi is prepared in stores, it lends an air of freshness, theatrical flair, and international ambiance that could not be achieved by standard fast food. This primarily helped to attract the attention of consumers but it was the health aspect that retained consumer interest.

Normally fast food is thought to be convenient, portable, and fast. However it is not well known for being healthy. This is where sushi makes its biggest mark – the fact that it is healthy. It sounds almost oxymoronic, ‘healthy fast food,’ but sushi is in fact very healthy. With much variety to choose from, consumers found that healthy food can be fast and portable. As Elsie Pon, assistant to the president of AFC, sushi is something you can grab on the go.

Sushi was always intended to be a food of the masses. However, it is hard to become that when it is introduced into a new culture. Hence the best method was to imitate the creators of sushi and use business sense. By appealing to the desired traits in food of mass society, sushi has found its place in mass culture, especially in large cities. In these cities, where life moves fast, the food must continue to meet the needs of consumers. Thus, sushi became profitable in meeting these consumer needs and therefore was able to spread.

In many large cities sushi can be found in grocery stores and specialty stores. As an example, in New York City, there are many small stores that only sell sushi and pre-package it to be like fast food. Consumers walk in, pick up a small box of sushi, purchase it, and then walk out to continue the day. The entire process usually takes only two to three minutes, and consumers are extremely happy with this fact. An interesting fact to mention is that in large cities, in many cases, sushi stores and restaurants are run by Chinese merchants. They already have experience in producing food very quickly and have decided to apply their same skills and business sense to sushi. Again, sushi owes its growth in popularity to its profitability.

Unfortunately, sushi has still to achieve the same effect in suburban and rural areas where life does not move at such a fast pace. While there are the occasional sushi restaurants, a sushi store is rare. It is more common to see a small variety of sushi on the menus of Chinese/Japanese fast food stores that deliver. It also tends to be more expensive since the scales of sales are lower. It costs less per unit to produce it at large quantities, and therefore it costs more per unit to produce it in smaller scales. Another place to find sushi in suburban areas is in supermarkets in or near the deli section. While a special section for sushi is not available, due to costs, sushi can be found in refrigerators in prepackaged units for quick purchases. Selling sushi in this manner makes it appear to be more commonplace, which suggests the acceptance of sushi into the culture, but at the same time can hurt further growth of the availability of sushi in other places. Unless sushi can become more profitable to supply, business sushi availability cannot grow and might actually decline as stores discontinue the sale of sushi.

Like many aspects of mass culture, business and profits helped to allow those aspects to continue and flourish. The growth continues until the aspect of mass culture becomes embedded into the culture and profits begin to level off. At this point, it becomes a common aspect that must be maintained to continue profits for businesses. In the case of sushi, it is still a growing market but in many areas, sushi has become commonly available and is a normal part of culture. Here, business will be hurt by not carrying and selling sushi since the consumers now expect it. Ultimately, businesses profit by the developments of culture and race against each other to capitalize on the new developments. When those developments become the norm, business must imitate the leaders in their industries and perform to the new norms in mass culture. Otherwise, they will be left behind and eventually falter. Mass culture and business go hand in hand as they both develop with each other’s help. This is clearly seen in the phenomenon of sushi.