History
Originally, the term nori was generic and referred to seaweeds including hijiki. One of the oldest descriptions of nori is dated to around the 8th century. In the Taihō Code enacted in 701, nori was already included in the form of taxation. There is a description "local peoples was drying nori" in Hitachi Province Fudoki (721–721), and also there is a description "nori was harvested" in Izumo Province Fudoki (713–733). These show nori was used as food from ancient times. In Utsubo Monogatari, written around 987, nori was recognized as a common food. The original nori was formed as a paste, and the sheet form was invented in Asakusa, Edo (contemporary Tokyo), in the Edo period through the method of Japanese paper-making.
In 1867, the word "nori" first appeared in an English-language publication — "A Japanese and English Dictionary," by James C. Hepburn.
The word nori started to be used widely in the United States, and the product (imported in dry form from Japan) became widely available at natural food stores and Asian-American grocery stores starting in the 1960s, due to the influence of the macrobiotic movement, and in the 1970s with the growing number of sushi bars and Japanese restaurants.
People of Japanese descent have been shown to be able to digest the polysaccharide of the seaweed, after gut microbes developed the enzyme from marine bacteria. Gut microbes from North American subjects lack these enzymes.
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