Norway’s sushi contribution and Laurel and Hardy’s Christmas
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How did Norway's businessman introduce salmon sushi to Japan?
We did something that no one else had ever done.
There was such an excitement and energy about this moment.
It opened the door for everything that rapidly followed. Witness history. History as told by the people who were there. I was walking in space, the first man ever to do so. I felt almost insignificant, like a tiny ant compared to the immensity of the universe.
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What historical context influenced the popularity of sushi in Japan?
Hello and welcome to the History Hour with me, Max Pearson, the amazing characters and stories that have appeared this week on Witness History on the BBC World Service. And coming up, the disability campaigners who changed the law in India.
People said, what can we do? And I said, well, look, even if it's a symbolic gesture, we have to come out on the streets. We have to, if nothing else, at least register our protest.
Also, we've got Laurel and Hardy at an English pub in the 1950s, plus how hundreds of Washington, D.C. 's most wanted were caught by the cops' offer of free NFL tickets. They're greedy. You know, a criminal looks for opportunity and what they can gain from opportunity. You know, we had family members show up instead of the criminals, so it's not always the criminal shows up.
What challenges did Norwegian salmon face in the Japanese market?
I hate to say they're stupid enough to fall for it. And the story of the first-ever made-for-TV opera. Who's calling? Who's calling? The shepherds are calling! Who's calling? Well, this year I got into real trouble. I was supposed to finish an opera for NBC, and I just didn't have an idea in my head. That's all coming up. But before that, we're going to take a look at a key moment in the history of Japanese sushi, a dish characterized by the addition of a protein, mainly raw fish, to sticky rice.
How did the economic crash in Japan impact sushi consumption?
These days, sushi is found all over the world, and one of the main types of fish on offer is usually salmon. But it wasn't always so. In the late 1980s, Norway needed a new market for its growing farmed salmon production. Fish-loving Japan and its lucrative sushi market seemed to fit the bill. But salmon was one fish the Japanese did not traditionally eat raw. Lars Bavanger has spoken to a man from the Arctic north of Norway, Bjorn Erik Olsson, who played a central role in getting salmon on sushi.
They are the samurai.
The 1954 film The Seventh Samurai opened Björn Eirik Olsson's eyes to Japan and its culture when he was very young. In my hometown, we didn't have television before 1967. I was 12 and the first movie I saw was The Seventh Samurai. And I was completely taken by that film and I decided at that moment that I want to be like them in a way. Bjorn Eirik's interest in all things Japanese led him to move to Osaka, Japan's third city, to learn the language. Then he studied the production and use of seaweed at the Kyushu University in Fukuoka. By 1986, this had made him the perfect candidate when the Norwegian government needed a market analyst for its Project Japan, an attempt to turn fish-loving Japan into a big new market for Norwegian fish.
The main reason for starting this project in Japan, as it was called, was the capelin, shrimp, redfish and herring. But by the late 1980s, Norway's salmon farming industry was growing rapidly and it became clear in Björn Eirik's mind that this fish had huge potential. I could see that the most interesting segment of the Japanese market was the sushi and sashimi market, dominated by very valuable seafood such as tuna, bluefin tuna, sea bream and various kinds of shellfish. Fish used raw in sushi and sashimi would fetch up to ten times more than when sold for cooking. There was only one problem. The Japanese didn't eat salmon raw.
What significant changes occurred in Indian disability rights in 1995?
The main reason actually was that in the northern part of Japan, the wild fish can catch parasites. When we first introduced sushi salmon or sashimi salmon to people working in the industry, like wholesalers or supermarket people or importers, They said, oh, it smells like a river, the colour is wrong, it's not red enough. So the whole task was to change the perception, the habits and the attitude of 120 million Japanese to eating salmon raw.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Norway's businessman introduce salmon sushi to Japan?
0:00–0:37
2
What historical context influenced the popularity of sushi in Japan?
0:37–1:19
3
What challenges did Norwegian salmon face in the Japanese market?
1:19–1:49
4
How did the economic crash in Japan impact sushi consumption?
1:49–4:16
5
What significant changes occurred in Indian disability rights in 1995?
4:16–5:30
6
Who was Javed Abidi and what role did he play in disability rights?
5:30–6:45
7
What was the significance of Scotland's women's hockey match in Berlin during the Cold War?
6:45–7:46
8
What memorable experiences did Laurel and Hardy have during their Christmas in England?
7:46–1:00:47
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from The History Hour
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