Does Your Neighborhood Sushi Joint Have a Stamp of Approval?

A little over a year ago, the government announced plans to start a worldwide authentication program for Japanese food.

Then, in 2007, it cancelled the program. No precise reasons were stated, but I suspect it may have been because some protested, and some doubted whether this was biased to all those other hard-working restauranteurs who sell "fake" Japanese food.

Today, a revised campaign was announced. This time, the program is being initiated by a non-profit organization with the blessing of the agriculture ministry. And it insists that its goal is not intended to play "sushi police." Starting now in Bangkok, Shanghai, and Taipei and by the end of March in Amsterdam, London, LA, and Paris, government-approved restaurants will have an authenticity symbol—a pair of chopsticks holding a cherry petal in front of the rising sun—stamped on their windows next to the Zagat ratings and all that stuff.

What do you think guys? Good idea? Bad idea?
BTW, Italy does the same thing in Japan.

I love it if only because it will save me that occasional fifty bucks I spend on fake Japanese restaurants that do a pretty good job of pretending they're real.

(Thanks, Sam and Walter!)

Comments

[kungfupiggy]

It would be great as a reference I suppose. But it would be hard to certify Kaiseki overseas.

I think calling the others "fake" is a bit harsh. Sometimes, due to local demands , restaurants have to adjust to local flavors. It is also why many Japanese restaurant do "hybrid menu" where they serve authentic flavors if you ask in Japanese.

Besides, it is a common misunderstanding that the authentic ones are always the best. (See Malcolm Gladwell's talk about spaghetti sauce at TED: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/20)

Without "fake" food, there wouldn't be any Japanese style Ramen. Oh! And MOS burgers!

What a joke! Italians can't even do real Italian food at many of their own restaurants. They serve microwave instant pasta to tourists at Piazza Navona!!
(I live there for a year) Don't eat at any Italian restaurant facing a monument or where they have waiters luring you in!

[mimo]

oh i can see this causing all sorts of uproar in honolulu... in general i think people take food and "authenticity" way too seriously.

[Moogly_bear]

Frankly I couldn't care less about the ingredients as long as it tasted good!

[Javatrader]

Frankly would never work in USA, and specifically in New York City. We eat what tastes good, "certified" or not. I think New Yorkers in general are pretty good in sniffing out what is authentic and what isn't and vote with their wallets. We don't need an outside panel giving it the thumbs up or down.
Having said that, you can now buy sushi at the local bodega. Hey, there are people out there who eat that stuff. Maybe because it's the only sushi they can afford.
There are also alot of Japanese restaurants in the outer boroughs and New Jersey that are run by Asians, but not Japanese. You can tell the difference. But I think that alot of people just don't have a choice in those cases.

I, personally, am a sushi snob and only eat at the top Sushi places. The recently reported "high levels of mercury in tuna at NYC restaurants" story is much scarier to me.

[stuz]

believe the original idea was to primarily give the japanese business people and tourists a reference since most basically have some might say discriminative lack of confidence in anything non-jp ;)personally i'd rather like to know where the ingredient are from and if the fish is fresh.. dont give a hoot about the michelin guide either..wink wink