Kaiten sushi (kaiten means "revolving") is the affordable-sushi phenomenon that began in Osaka in, depending on your source, the late 1950s or the mid 1970s. It has spawned a few wildly successful restaurant chains in Japan, all with the same basic concept: You grab any dish that looks good; and different-colored dishes mean different prices, which are tallied at the end. It's very popular--I have heard about mini-kaiten contraptions that you can rent for parties.
When we returned, there was only one couple at the sushi bar, and the conveyor belt was on. (They must have been celebrities.) Two sushi chefs loitered, surrounded by stacked empty plates; they seemed a little underemployed, and indeed there were only a handful of plates circulating, most of them with the little plastic hats that indicate they've been around the block a few times. We grabbed some nice-looking salmon nigiri (blue plate, $2.35), which was delicious, and a tempura roll ($2.35) that was all right (I can't seem to get with the Japanese predilection for mayonnaise in maki rolls).
When the same California rolls ($2.35) had gone by a few times, we gave in and ordered off the menu, and had some absolutely delectable wild white salmon (chef's special--wonderfully fatty, sort of like the toro of salmon), some unagi overwhelmed by sweet sauce (purple plate, $3.35), and some scallops ($2.35) that were so cold you couldn't taste them at all.
But what was good was very good indeed, and this hints at the key to making Azuma a success: high volume. If we all ran down there right now and packed the sushi bar, greedily eating everything that came down the pike, they would have to keep their fish at room temperature, the conveyor belt crowded with fresh dishes, the sushi chefs busy. Now that would be a movement I could get behind.
Azuma Kaiten Sushi Bar
900 S Jackson St, #218 (International District), 264-0447. Mon 5-9 pm; Tues-Thurs noon-3 pm, 5-9 pm; Fri noon-3 pm, 5-10 pm; Sat 11:30 am-10 pm; Sun 3:30-9 pm.