Japanese cuisine tickles taste buds, spins money in China

Japanese cuisine is such a rage among Chinese consumers these days that some of them are willing to spend more than 1,000 yuan ($149.70) for a lunch/dinner comprising super-fresh authentic ingredients, including six-piece sashimi, or raw fish, specially imported from Japan.

Small wonder, Japanese restaurants are mushrooming on the Chinese mainland to ride consumer demand.

Their number surged from about 10,600 in the beginning of 2017 to 40,800 at the end of the year, according to data from the Japanese External Trade Organization, which is known as JETRO.