The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy (Hardcover)

by Sasha Issenberg (Author) "A lot of sushi diners talk of needing their "fix," but it might not be addiction that keeps them coming back as much as a..." (more)
Key Phrases: sushi shokunin, ranched fish, tuna business, Port Lincoln, Los Angeles, United States (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. In this intriguing first book, Philadelphia-based journalist Issenberg roams the globe in search of sushi and takes the reader on a cultural, historical and economic journey through the raw-fish trade that reads less like economics and more like an entertaining culinary travelogue. In the years since the end of WWII, the practical protein-and-rice delicacy once unknown outside Japan has become so commonplace that the elements of its trade affect a far-flung global network of fanatics, chefs, tuna ranchers and pirates. While the West reached out for things Japanese, from management techniques to Walkmans, the growth of the market for quality fish, especially maguro, the bluefin tuna beloved by sushi eaters everywhere, paralleled Japan's rise from postwar ruin to 1980s economic powerhouse and into its burst-bubble present. Issenberg follows every possible strand in this worldwide web of history, economics and cuisine—an approach that keeps the book lively with colorful places and characters, from the Tokyo fish market to the boats of North Atlantic fishermen, from tuna ranches off the coast of Australia to the sushi bars in Austin, Tex. He weaves the history of the art and cuisine of sushi throughout, and his smart, lively voice makes the most arcane information fascinating. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Bookmarks Magazine
Sasha Issenberg, an investigative reporter at Philadelphia magazine, gained national notoriety a few years ago when he fact-checked David Brooks's article in the Atlantic Monthly, "One Nation, Slightly Divisable." He found plenty of errors and generalizations. With The Sushi Economy, he impressed critics with his thoughtful and well-written account of how sushi became the world's favorite luxury cuisine. Filled with interesting detail, the book also contains surprising facts and anecdotes that critics were quick to quote. The New York Times felt the narrative sometimes dragged, with one passage that describes a fish being transferred from boat to dock feeling "longer than the flight to Japan." Other critics thought Issenberg strained too much on occasion, for example by comparing sushi chefs with samurai. Despite these minor criticisms, reviewers overall recommended this book as a fascinating view of the global economy.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 352 pages
• Publisher: Gotham (May 3, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592402941
• ISBN-13: 978-1592402946
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #306,552 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Whale of a Tale, May 6, 2007

By	viktor_57 "viktor_57" (Fairview, Your Favorite State, USA) - See all my reviews

I love sushi, and I love economics, but even if I cared for neither, "The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy" would still be an entertaining and eye-opening read. A tale of culture, globalization, cuisine, and historical drama, "The Sushi Economy" traces back the modern explosion of sushi back to the 1970's. Although sushi had been sold by Tokyo street vendors in the 19th century, its rebirth as a culinary and cultural staple began when Japanese air shippers, after dropping off shipments of manufactured goods in North America, brought back North Atlantic bluefin tuna--at the time considered worthless and fit only for cat food--rather than fly home empty planes. Concurrent advances in refrigeration allowed seafood to be shipped large distances, and this increase in supply, along with a booming post-war economy, fueled Japanese demand for premium sushi and saw the rapid expansion of sushi bars throughout the country. Japanese overseas expansion brought sushi along with it and spawned a growing network of suppliers, including fishermen and the newer fisheries, and specialty distributors, as well as black market dealers and smugglers.

The seafood infrastructure, however, was only one part of the sushi explosion, as innovative sushi chefs became entrepreneurs, initially marketing sushi as a chic, upscale delicacy but then broadening its appeal by adapting to local flavors and cuisine.

Despite its specific origins from a small, island nation, sushi has become a global cuisine and the economy that supports it a global one as well. "The Sushi Economy" may be one of the best examples of this new, global economy at work as Issenberg traces the origins of the sushi on our plate, formerly an exotic delicacy but now almost as common as hamburgers, through the numerous retailers, distributors and suppliers back to the fishing grounds themselves, which may be half a world away. Yet despite this distance the innovations of the decentralized economy are able to bring you your fish within the small window of freshness that keeps a hundred-dollar-a-pound commodity from becoming cat food.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Not-So-Ancient Delicacy in a Modern World Economy, July 25, 2007

By	R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In _The Breakfast Club_ from 1985, Molly Ringwald's character brings her lunch to detention, but it isn't the typical brown bag the other kids have brought. It is a tray of sushi, and the rest of them are astonished, maybe because they have never seen such a food before. It is a scene that is now quaintly dated, even after only a couple of decades, because although a Big Mac might still be more the prevalent norm, and although sushi is still something of an exotic food, it is popular rather than mysterious. The way this came to be involves marketing, technology, and a shrinking planet, and is the story of _The Sushi Economy: Globalization and the Making of a Modern Delicacy_ (Gotham Books) by Sasha Issenberg. Sushi is based on raw fish, mostly tuna, but it isn't really fresh and it decidedly is not simple. This is not a book that will make you wince or feel guilty over your next tuna roll, and it may even beat the drums for globalization. We do have, even in small towns, the capacity now to enjoy this tasty delicacy, and as Issenberg writes, "In few places are the complex dynamics of globalization revealed as visibly as in the tuna's journey from the sea to the sushi bar."

The sushi story is the story of tuna, and Issenberg follows the fish backward from market to its origin in the sea. The main market is the Tsukiji which takes up 57 acres in Tokyo, where a few hundred buyers gather to take a look at tuna brought in from all over the world. This is a huge market of $6 billion a year, and one fish alone might routinely go for $30,000. The great change in the market came starting in 1972 when there was a first Tokyo auction of Canadian bluefin tuna, brought by plane from a region where the fish were considered worthless. The tuna, rice, and seaweed delicacy with which we are familiar, Issenberg says, "served by a sushi chef to a customer seated before him - is in fact no older than the California roll," which was itself an American invention of the 1960s. "Sushi had started as a form of preservation," Issenberg writes, "but it was becoming precisely the opposite: a way of using the infrastructure of modernity to chaperone a delicate dish around the world." This has resulted in overfishing, and attempts to farm tuna, "moving the ocean's biggest, fastest, toughest fish into a cage and keeping it there for months or years." Of course aficionados sniff at the quality of farmed tuna meat, but that doesn't matter to those who, say, like a cheap tray of tasty sushi from the supermarket.

There are wonderful profiles in this book, like the Caucasian tuna chef who successfully brought sushi to Austin, Texas, or the self-appointed sheriff of Libyan tuna poaching who uses Google maps to monitor illegal fishing, or the disciples of the Reverend Sun Myung Moon who entered the market in Gloucester, Massachusetts, or the champion tuna tosser at the Port Lincoln Tunarama Festival, or the star of _Iron Chef_ who is opening a sushi restaurant in Mumbai, or many more. Each profile shows how global an enterprise sushi is. Issenberg reflects: "To eat sushi is to display an access to advanced trade networks, of full engagement in world commerce." Sushi is now so prevalent as to be taken for granted; it is good to be reminded of how complex and how modern a story it really is.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Tuna around the world, July 12, 2007

By	Jon Hunt "musician, teacher" (Old Greenwich, Ct. USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

In the spirit of Mark Kurlansky's terrific books about the histories of salt, oysters and cod, comes this brilliant book by Sasha Issenberg about sushi. Sushi is the cover, but this is really about tuna, a fish once thrown back into the sea or simply thrown away. His book raises the bar and it is as comprehensive a look at the industry as one can get.

Having grown up at a time and in a place where sushi was unheard of, Issenberg rightly begins and ends his book in Japan. From the vast Tokyo fish market known as "Tsukiji" the reader is transported to Canada, Los Angeles, Gloucester, Spain, Australia, China and more. How did this once lowly fish attain such a high status? Sasha Issenberg tells us in a narrative style that is low-key but fascinating.

Economy is indeed a central part of this book and it is intriguing to read about the rise and fall of tuna as a commodity. But the personal testimonies, included here, make the book shine. Each chapter stands on its own but I was particularly drawn to the beginnings of shipping tuna from Canada to Japan in the early 1970s. These people were real pioneers in the industry and to think this has all occurred in my lifetime is equally admirable and impressive.

I highly recommend "The Sushi Economy". Sasha Issenberg has compiled a broad-based look at sushi...where it all began, where it is now and where it might be headed. It's a compelling work and a book not to be missed.