Few foods inspire the same reverence as sushi. It seems simple — fish, vinegared rice, seaweed, condiments — but to its devotees, it’s very, very serious.

The modern art of sushi began humbly, in a little riverfront stand in the city of Edo where people would grab quick bites of freshly caught fish on rice balls.¹ Today, sushi has been elevated to an art form, served in chef-created sequences called omakase that may cost hundreds of dollars. Here are just a few of the best sushi experiences worth traveling for. 

Tour the Tsukiji Fish Market.

For sushi lovers, any visit to Tokyo must include a visit to the Tsukiji Fish Market, the oldest and largest fish market in the world. The market’s famous for its tuna auction, in which sushi chefs bid on massive bluefin. The record price? $632,000 for a single, 466-pound fish.² The auction begins at 3 a.m., and in order to secure one of the 120 seats, you may need to arrive as early as 1 a.m. (hey, not a problem if you’re jet-lagged!).³ Warm clothes and practical shoes are required.

Taking a tour may be the best way to see the highlights of the labyrinthine market, which sprawls over 57 acres.⁴ Look for a Tsukiji Fish Market tour that teaches you about all the kinds of fish you’ll see, from ei (skate) to uni (sea urchin), then gives you the chance to practice making sushi yourself. Tourists line up before dawn to eat at the market’s best-known sushi restaurants, Sushi Dai and Daiwa Sushi, but you’ll find plenty of excellent sushi elsewhere in and around the market.

One note: Be aware that the fish market may soon change its location. A move to an artificial island has been planned for years, but delayed for environmental reasons.⁵

Catch your own fish at Zauo.

At Zauo, a chain of restaurants in Japan, customers sit in a faux boat and catch their own fish. Grab a rod, buy some bait, and try your best to catch a red snapper, a flounder or anything else swimming around the pool. If you’re successful, you’ll be rewarded with a special chant and the experience of eating your own catch, grilled, fried or as sashimi or sushi.

“If you plan to fish, don’t arrive hungry,” Time Out Tokyo advises. “When we visited it took half an hour before even a small kasago (scorpion fish) showed any interest in our bait.”⁶ Zauo also offers a sushi-making workshop for children, complete with little white chefs’ uniforms.

Dine at the world’s best sushi restaurant.

Made famous by the 2011 documentary “Jiro Dreams of Sushi,” Tokyo restaurant Sukiyabashi Jiro is considered by many to serve the best sushi in the world. Food personality Anthony Bourdain has said he’d like his last meal to be served by legendary chef Jiro Ono: “The rice is always perfect, the seaweed the right consistency and not soggy and the fish at the carefully regulated, preferred temperatures that Jiro works so hard to ensure.”⁷

There are a few challenges, of course. Reservations for Sukiyabashi Jiro are almost ludicrously difficult to obtain. To get one, you must call on the first day of the month and make the reservation in Japanese, with a Japanese phone number. There’s no menu; the 20-some-course omakase consists of whatever Jiro wishes to serve. And diners are often surprised by the speed of service. You’re expected to eat each piece of sushi the instant it’s served, which means an entire, $300 meal may take just 30 minutes.⁸ Here are the dining guidelines for Sukiyabashi Jiro — and just remember, “pulling off the topping is the greatest insult to the sushi chef.”

Visit the best sushi restaurants in the United States.

If your travel budget doesn’t allow for a sushi pilgrimage to Tokyo, don’t despair. The U.S. boasts some of the best sushi restaurants in the world, outside of Japan.⁹ These include:

• Sushi Nakazawa, a sushi temple in New York City’s West Village that’s run by Jiro Ono’s former apprentice.
• Soto, also in New York, is famed for its treatments of sea urchin.
• Sushi Zo, with locations in Los Angeles, New York and Bangkok, serves perfect fish in an unremarkable setting.
• O Ya, in Boston and New York, is known for creative takes on sushi, such as Kumamoto oyster with squid-ink bubbles and sea urchin ceviche with cilantro.

One tip: Ask about prices before you eat. Writer Chris Galetta tells the tale of the time he and a friend went to a tiny Manhattan restaurant operated by a protégé of Jiro Ono. It was “easily the best sushi I've ever eaten or ever will,” he says. “After every dish, Toma penciled a figure into small ledger. Then he would turn with a smile and suggest another spectacular morsel.” The final bill: $1,100. Oh my.

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Richmond-based travel writer Muriel Barrett has a terrible sense of direction, and has spent many happy hours getting lost in Barcelona, Venice and Jerusalem. Her favorite travel memories all involve wildlife: watching sea turtles nest in Costa Rica, kayaking with seals in Vancouver and meeting a pink tarantula in Martinique.

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