All over the world you can find restaurants serving Japan's greatest cultural export, sushi.

While many people enjoy sushi, most people have no idea of the origins of sushi beyond the fact that it comes from Japan.

There's also a great deal of confusion about what proper sushi etiquette is and what constitutes real sushi.

Learn more about the history of sushi and the global sushi industry on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Book your ticket to happiness with Sun Express Airlines. I'm going to go. Many people would be surprised to learn that sushi's earliest origins aren't actually in Japan but most probably in China.

Somewhere in southern China or Southeast Asia there developed a technique for the

preservation of fish during the rainy season. Fish would be pickled in barrels along with

salt and rice. When the fish was later unpacked for consumption, the rice

which served as a packing material was usually thrown away and the fish was consumed separately. The rice

that was thrown out wasn't anything that looked like rice after the fermentation

process. It was more of a slime at this point. This fermented fish became known as Nare Zushi. It was

considered a delicacy precisely because the rice was thrown away, making it a

luxury. The fish was nothing like the fish served with modern sushi today.

Nara Zushi first appeared in Chinese written records in the fourth century.

Sometime in the eighth century, pickled fish crossed the sea and arrived in Japan.

Over several centuries, the taste of the Japanese began to change,

and they began removing the fish from the pickling barrel earlier and consuming it with the rice it was packed in.

This became known as Namanari.

This might have just been a matter of preferring the taste of just partially fermented fish

or consuming it in such a way as not to waste any rice.

The change was recorded between the mid 14th century and the mid 16th century.

Around the late 16th and early 17th centuries there was a huge change in Japanese diets.

Most people began eating a third midday meal.

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