The seas began receding when global warming gave way to global cooling, and Japan began experiencing four distinct seasons. Seafood would then have been appreciated for its seasonal characteristics as well, and sashimi probably became even more popular.

Then, about 2,300 years ago, many people began crossing over to Japan from the Asian continent, bringing the techniques of rice cultivation and iron making with them. This led to the development of a new culture that spread to different parts of the Japanese archipelago, heralding the beginning of the Yayoi period. But of course the custom of catching and eating fish did not end with the Jomon period.

The new culture was centered on rice cultivation, and this actually encouraged the eating of more seafood. Rice is best when it is eaten with other types of food, and fish, being softer than the flesh of wild animals, is especially suitable as a side dish with rice. An alcohol made from rice, saké also goes well with fish, and after people started brewing it, rice and fish became inseparable.

And so it was that seafood became an essential part of life in Japan. Ebisu and Daikoku are two of the seven deities of good fortune (shichi fukujin), and both were venerated in the kitchen, Ebisu as the god of fishing, Daikoku as the god of rice. Festive occasions were celebrated by eating sea bream or clams, and each region developed unique and appetizing seafood recipes. Seafood enriched cultural life in Japan, being featured in haiku poetry, paintings, and the comic rakugo stories popular among the common people. Fish are now closely associated with Japanese culture and everyday life.