>>>>I do recall being a bit amused hearing this from one of my relatives from Japan when visiting the USA back in the 1990s... Looking at the current number of stores worldwide, perhaps such a statement might not be so weird today...
>>>>http://www.sej.co.jp/company/en/g_stores.html
>>>
>>>No surprise from me. While living in Memphis, Tn, we had a 7-Eleven with a Sushi kiosk indoors. Never took the chance to try any of it.
>>
>>Fresh pineapple at the ones in Hawaii -- they even give you a cup of fresh pineapple with every combo meal at the McDonalds lol.
>
>At least the pineapple there is fresh. The only fresh fish in Memphis is Catfish and Crawdads (Crayfish). Neither I would attempt to eat raw.

of course, "sushi" doesn't always mean raw fish (despite the usage of the term in American English). There are things like "maki sushi" (rolled sushi) and "inari sushi" (rice in fired tofu pouch) that often does not contain fish.
Speaking of Hawaii and food -- Spam musubi (a rather common item in Hawaii) is a relatively new thing to folks on the mainland
And on topic of fish and Hawaii -- it's been only a few years since poki restaurants have been popping up almost everywhere in SoCal.
I do recall about 15 years ago 7-Elevens around SoCal started carrying drinks Calpis (renamed Calpico), Ramune and Pocari Sweat as well as boxed sushi and onigiri (rice balls) -- though a few years ago much has been discontinued. A few years ago I've been noticing that the 7-Eleven stores around Los Angeles are now carrying Japanese snack like Poki as well as mochi. I'm thinking that some of this may be connected to popularity of anime and manga.