Sushi in Korea

In Korea today, sushi is a popular food that people of all ages and genders can easily encounter and enjoy, and at the same time a representative Japanese Cuisine [Article] that symbolizes Japanese culture.

However, sushi was not loved by Koreans to this extent from the beginning. Sushi's elevated status in Korea is relatively recent.

Even in the 1980s and 1990s, sushi was part of a minority culture rather than mainstream food culture in Korea, and even when it was available, its form differed considerably from what people encounter today. The reasons are as follows.

• Lack of popular-culture exchange between Korea and Japan

• Lack of understanding of orthodox Japanese cuisine and of skilled practitioners

• Problems with ingredient supply

• Lack of popular demand for Japanese food culture

• A Japanese cuisine market replaced by Korean-style hoe and susa culture

Several major events subsequently led to sushi becoming widespread in Korea, developing into a genre of popular food, and further establishing itself as a high-end food culture centered on omakase sushi restaurants.

History of Sushi Development in Korea

Opening of Japanese Culture (late 1990s to early 2000s)

From 1998 to 2004, the South Korean government gradually abolished restrictions on the import of Japanese popular culture. Korean consumers, who had had no way to encounter Japanese culture, broadened their understanding of Japanese food culture during this period.

Corporate Japanese restaurant chains, Japanese buffets, and susa restaurants combining Japanese and Korean food culture appeared in large numbers during this period.

Transformation of Hotel Japanese Restaurants (mid-2000s to early 2010s)

The late Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee was well versed in Japanese food culture through his years of study and residence in Japan. One day, while dining at a Japanese restaurant in the Shilla Hotel, he was greatly disappointed by the food served there. He then called for sweeping change, saying, “This sushi is second-rate!”

He then turned to his regular sushi restaurant in Ginza, Tokyo, Kiyota [Restaurant], whose third-generation head was Kimura Masashi [Person], and recruited Morita Matsumi [Person], its sous-chef, to Ariake.

Chef Morita Matsumi, who came from Kiyota, a legendary sushi restaurant in Ginza at the forefront of Japanese gastronomy, transformed Ariake into a space suited to modern high-end Japanese food culture.

In response, Sushi Cho at the Chosun Hotel, which was then forming a rivalry with Ariake, also entered into a technical agreement with another legendary sushi restaurant, Ginza Kyubey [Restaurant], and recruited Chef Matsumoto Mizuho.

As these two hotels, which had led Korea's high-end food culture, competitively began to lead orthodox Japanese cuisine and omakase culture, Japanese food culture in Korea experienced considerable qualitative growth.

Pandemic (mid-2010s to early 2020s)

During this period, high-end Japanese food culture centered on luxury hotels such as Ariake and Sushi Cho developed in more diverse ways than before. In particular, chefs from Ariake and Sushi Cho and chefs trained in Japan became independent and spread high-end Japanese cuisine and omakase culture to the public in their own ways.

At the same time, public interest in gastronomy and Japanese culture was growing unprecedentedly through the publication of Michelin Guide [Article] Seoul and the supply of food content through the internet and media.

Moreover, explosive growth in demand for travel to Japan made stories about sushi restaurants and omakase in Japan easily accessible.

When air travel was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, travel demand left without destinations shifted toward domestic travel, hotel stays, and high-end gastronomy. Sushi restaurants in Seoul, especially amid the “omakase boom,” enjoyed an unprecedented heyday.

Countless sushi restaurants opened within a short period, while Japanese restaurants in top-priced hotels and sushi restaurants of famous chefs gained large followings and joined the ranks of impossible-to-book venues.

Post-Pandemic (early 2020s to present)

When air travel reopened after the pandemic, Japanese restaurants in Korea faced major change once again.

As overseas travel resumed, demand that had been concentrated in the domestic market entered a sharp decline, and most establishments that had positioned themselves as high-end sushi restaurants were hit directly and disappeared.

However, while the phenomenon that could be described as frenzied during the pandemic subsided, public interest in and understanding of Japanese cuisine and sushi had undeniably grown beyond comparison with the period before the pandemic.

Accordingly, high-quality sushi restaurants that had already been competitive were able to provide meals of a higher standard with the support of a larger customer base than before.

In addition, with Japanese corporate sushi restaurants entering Korea directly after confirming the potential of the Korean market and with the emergence of chefs trained in Japan, sushi culture in Korea achieved significant qualitative development.