When wet-field rice cultivation was introduced during the Yayoi period, lakes and rivers would flood during the rainy season and fish would get caught in the rice paddy fields. The lacto-fermentation of the rice prevents the fish from spoiling. Fermentation methods following similar logic in other Asian rice cultures include prahok ( ប្រហុក), pla ra ( ปลาร้า), burong isda, sikhae ( 식해), and amazake ( 甘酒). The process can be traced back to the early domestication of rice in the Neolithic cultures of China. The fish was fermented with rice vinegar, salt, and rice, after which the rice was discarded. Ī dish known as narezushi ( 馴れ寿司, 熟寿司, 'salted fish'), stored in fermented rice for possibly months at a time, has been cited as one of the early influences for the Japanese practice of applying rice on raw fish. Sushi is sometimes confused with sashimi, a related dish in Japanese cuisine that consists of thinly sliced raw fish or occasionally meat. Daikon radish or pickled daikon ( takuan) are popular garnishes for the dish. It is often served with pickled ginger ( gari), wasabi, and soy sauce. It is very often prepared with seafood, such as squid, eel, yellowtail, salmon, tuna or imitation crab meat. Sushi is traditionally made with medium-grain white rice, though it can be prepared with brown rice or short-grain rice. It was the fast food of the chōnin class in the Edo period. The inventor of modern sushi is believed to be Hanaya Yohei, who invented nigiri-zushi, a type of sushi most known today, in which seafood is placed on hand-pressed vinegared rice, around 1824 in the Edo period (1603–1867). Styles of sushi and its presentation vary widely, but the one key ingredient is 'sushi rice', also referred to as shari ( しゃり), or sumeshi ( 酢飯). Sushi ( すし, 寿司, 鮨, 鮓, pronounced or ) is a Japanese dish of prepared vinegared rice ( 鮨飯, sushi-meshi), usually with some sugar and salt, accompanied by a variety of ingredients ( ねた, neta), such as seafood, often raw, and vegetables.

Chirashi plate