Because the birthplace of the famous California roll was actually in Vancouver, Canada, and the inventor was a Japanese chef. The restaurant that invented its Japanese chef is still open today.

In 2016, Hideki Tojo, 66, was also honored as a Goodwill Ambassador by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Today, "California rolls" can be found in every corner of the world, spreading the food of sushi far and wide. For those who don't like raw fish, the "California Roll" is a great alternative.

It's inventors made some changes specifically to cater to local tastes. In the late 1960s, "Japanese sushi" gradually entered the North American market. At that time, several authentic Japanese restaurants opened in Vancouver, Canada. However, the combination of "sashimi + rice" was a Western one at the time. It was still a new and daring experience for people.

In the early 1970s, a Canadian-Japanese chef named Hidekazu Tojo decided that guests couldn't always have tempura and Japanese oysters. Westerners were not keen on sushi. The root cause was that he wasn't used to raw fish in sushi rolls. So he tries to make some changes to cater to local tastes.

Hideki Tojo tried replacing raw fish with "boiled crab legs," "crab salad," and "avocado as fatty as a fish belly. The dish is enriched with refreshing cucumber. He was also bold enough to use the "inside-out" format, revealing transparent rice, hiding poorly-selling black seaweed, and finishing with a sprinkling of crunchy white sesame seeds. Although his innovation was rejected by the conservative head office, the improved sushi rolls became a hit with the locals. Soon, a number of chefs brought the practice to California and it quickly became popular in the region.

Mainly because it was popularized from this part of California, it was called the California roll.