The Japadog fusion food phenomenon

Japadog is a sushi hotdog fusion food served from two vendor locations in downtown Vancouver. We went down to the Burrard and Smithe Street location to ask customers what they think about this particular brand of cheap comfort fusion.

Owner Noriki Tamura on Japadog’s origins:

I immigrated to Canada from Japan in January 2005 because I wanted to start a restaurant business in Canada. I wasn’t sure what kind when I left, but when I came to Canada my wife and I came up with the idea of mixing Japanese food with hotdogs — I eat a lot of Japanese food and I like hotdogs.

I had just enough money to open a hotdog stand, and I asked other hotdog vendors in downtown Vancouver to teach me how to cook and sell hotdogs.  Japadog first opened in May 2005, and business was slow. But it started to pick up eventually, and now I have lots of customers — how many is a secret. The most popular Japadog overall is Terimayo, while my Japanese customers prefer the Oroshi hotdog, and my Canadian customers really like the Misomayo hotdog.

The recession hasn’t affected my business because hotdogs are cheap. In fact I plan on opening a Japadog restaurant in downtown Vancouver this spring, and a Japanese franchise next year.

As told to Katie Hyslop.