The Japanese love their food. This can be seen by the number of people who eat out, even in a time of recession, and the number of food-related programs on TV. Tell someone that you're taking a trip to Hokkaido and the first thing they'll do is insist that you try the seafood while you're there or the Okonomiyaki in Osaka and so on. While sushi has become increasingly popular in the West, most Japanese food remains pretty much unknown. Japanese restaurants around the world have tended to cater for Japanese tourists and have been priced accordingly, ie. expensive. But in Japan there is a huge variety of food available at prices ranging from a month's salary to very reasonable.