TUNA GOES AROUND THE WORLD ON SUSHI

Conveyor belt sushi bars (sushi-go-round restaurants) rapidly became popular nationwide in Japan in the late 1990s. Even in low priced sushi bars, fatty tuna was as essential an item as in high-end sushi bars. Because 70% of the body muscle of cultured bluefin tuna is fatty meat, major conveyor belt sushi bar chains in Japan began to use imported cultured bluefin tuna as a relatively low-priced substitute ingredient for fatty meat tuna sushi beginning in 2000. This strategy, in which imported, cultured bluefin tuna was used as a "bait" enticement, was successful and major conveyor belt sushi bar chains rapidly expanded their business. During this period, Japan became the major importer of bluefin tuna in the world.. It was conclusively proven that the popularization of conveyor bell sushi bars in Japan was responsible for elevating the global cultured production of bluefin tuna.