This rice is wrapped in leaves and served cold , and just like a sandwich it has cold cuts and a spread with it. However, the cold cuts are not sausage or meat but seafood or fish, and the spread is not mayonnaise but Japanese horse-radish mustard, wasabe . This kind of rice sandwiches are called sushi , and they are mostly eaten as a kind of hors d'oeuvre. There are a number of preparations resembling those of neighboring countries. The most typical Japanese dessert is chawan mushi , an egg custard cream.
Japanese cuisine is cheap nowhere in the world.
For fish to be eaten raw it must be very fresh. Transportation and storage therefore is much more an effort which increases the cost.