Japan + Argentina

Today, Cintra and I were told that there was a saying in B.A., "If you only visit two countries, see Japan and Argentina." We obviously asked for an explanation, as this seemed to be one of the more baseless sayings we'd ever heard (and perhaps not a saying per se but a random invention of the teller). Well, she told us, to see the whole range of what the world is capable of, you should see a country that was very poor that became rich--Japan--and one that was very rich that became poor--Argentina. Which led to other Japan/Argentina issues, such as, Cintra noted, that Argentina has the second highest rate of anorexia in the world--behind Japan. (In response, the government is forcing clothing stores to stock more large sizes so that tight-fitting clothes won't inspire 15-year-old girls to get all drastic and barf. I somehow suspect there are more factors than a snug waistline at work. See Argentina's fashion police target rake thin teens.)

This, of course, led me to consider the shortage of good sushi in B.A. (though there are cartoons; for more on the Claudio Furnier one at left click here). This happens to all new residents exactly 46 days after arrival--or following their 74th steak, whichever comes first. You realize that you love steak, that the meat is earthshattering, that you're even passionate about it, but you wonder if there isn't something else? What about...fish?

I've yet to be given a satisfactory explanation of why there's so little good sushi around or why 90% is salmon (or, as my friend Heather says, "Not really raw salmon. Lox. Lox on rice.") or why you'll get canned tuna in a tuna role. If Argentina is a Serious Country--Un Pais En Serio, as it claims--that's not acceptable. I've been told that fish doesn't fill you up (my response: eat more) and that we're too far from the ocean (but there's sushi in Vegas). I've had a lot of hypetheses floated at me; now, let's get to the fish.

This thought caused my brain, being wacky and such, to jump to another Japan-related question: considering that Peru's ethnically-Japanese ex-president, Alberto Fujimori, was for some incomprehensible reason known to Peruvians as "El Chino," is sushi in Peru called Chinese food?