California Roll (Tojo Maki)

Historical Background

Sushi has been a part of Japanese cuisine for centuries. In 1970, the Osaka world fair boosted sushi’s international popularity. In North America, various newspapers published recipes of crabmeat rolled in cucumber. In Canada, the growing Japanese immigrant diaspora helped popularize sushi and Japanese cuisine. Despite initial resistance and wariness, many sushi bars and restaurants opened up, particularly in British Columbia.

Invention of California Roll

The California roll’s invention is sometimes attributed to chef Hidekazu Tojo’s inside-out sushi. In 1971, Tojo arrived in Canada from Osaka, Japan. He came to work as a chef in one of only a few Japanese restaurants in Vancouver.

Eventually, Tojo found work at Jinya, a Vancouver restaurant. There, he began adapting Japanese cuisine to appeal to North American tastes. At the time, the chef recalled that customers were hesitant to eat raw fish and seaweed. ( See also Fisheries in Canada: Lobsters, Crab and Shrimp.)

In 1974, Tojo created a new sushi roll using more familiar ingredients, including those he could source locally. He used Dungeness crab, avocado and seaweed. Later on, he added spinach and egg. He also turned the sushi inside out, hiding the seaweed behind the rice. This signature dish, called the Tojo maki, proved popular. In 1988, he opened his own restaurant, where he continued serving the inside-out roll.

Over time, the recipe evolved into the California roll we know today. The key ingredients became imitation crab, cucumber and avocado. Tojo's ability to cater to local tastes and garner support from patrons and critics contributed to the success of the California roll. In recognition of this achievement, the government of Japan later designated Tojo as a “goodwill ambassador for Japanese cuisine.” Reflecting Tojo’s influence, in September 2024, a documentary titled The Chef & The Daruma featured his story. The world premiere took place at the Vancouver International Film Festival.

Rise in Popularity

Despite being viewed as an unconventional recipe, the California roll gained widespread acceptance. It also helped popularize sushi throughout North America. By blending Asian and Western culinary traditions, the dish became a staple of fusion cuisine. It provided consumers with an accessible format to experience Japanese culture.

Did you know?
The “standardized” version of the California Roll most often uses imitation crab, something that Chef Tojo has spoken out against. He’s always used real local crab in his Tojo maki.

The California roll was even re-exported to Japan, where it is known as kashu maki. The method of presenting the rice outside of the seaweed developed into a separate sushi category called uramaki (literally reverse roll). This also prompted the creation of other popular sushi varieties such as the rainbow roll and spider roll.

Competing Claims

The origins of the California roll are disputed. Chef Hidekazu Tojo admits that he did not coin the name “California roll.” Chef Tojo associated the term California roll with how Japanese mainstream media inaccurately called the entire Pacific Coast “California.” Some food writers claimed that its name was derived from C.A., the abbreviation of crab and avocado. Others referred to the chef’s out-of-town customers, especially those from California, as the root of the name’s origin.

Many believe that the California roll recipe was instead created in Los Angeles. One of the earliest known references to the "California roll" dates back to a 1979 Associated Press article, which credited Ken Seusa as its inventor. That same year, a Los Angeles Times food critic mentioned a similar California roll created by Masayuki (Nick) Niikura. The article notes that he used a seaweed wrap "of shrimp, avocado, rice rolled in sesame seeds, [and] a cucumber'flower' sprouting from the middle."

Other US journalists credit Ichiro Mashita as the true pioneer. In the early 1970s, Mashita was a chef at the LA restaurant Tokyo Kaikan with assistant Teruo Imaizumi. They notably used avocado to replace toro (the fatty part of tuna), which could not be sourced for much of the year.