It might be a little shocking but sushi, Japan's most typical and in demand food, is native to China! With a history that dates back to the 4th century BC, sushi was used originally as a manner of preserving raw fish. Fish was flattened, salted, fermented with rice, and preserved for several months. When the fish was consumed, the rice was discarded. Only when the technique was later introduced in Japan did the rice get eaten along with the fish. Sushi gradually evolved, with the additions of vegetables and vinegar, as it become widely popular in Tokyo through mobile street vendors. However, in 1923, a large earthquake caused the majority of these street vendors to lose their jobs and head back to their home towns and sell sushi all over Japan. With Americans becoming more health conscious, sushi experienced a wide surge in popularity in the US in the 1980s.