Ask almost any Japanese living overseas what they miss most and they are more likely to say the food than their relatives. Ask virtually any tourist what excites them most about Japan and you are apt to be told "Japanese food."
Ah, the sumptuousness of a sensational sushi, the tempting tenderness of tempura, the rousing rapture of a ramen when you're ravenous — I will tell you, dear reader, that nothing brings out the alimentary alliteration in me like Japanese cuisine.
Just a few decades ago, Japanese food comprised a niche market in the outside world. But thanks in large part to the bloated economic boom of the 1980s, every man and his dog started to crave the stuff; and, as a result, sushi, teppanyaki, tempura, ramen, sukiyaki, soba and even takoyaki (often rendered somewhat unappealingly as "octopus balls") became household words.