Originally Posted by
Pickles
If you are talking about a kaiseki dinner, yes sashimi will come before sushi, but you'll get a couple of pieces of each, as part of a multi-course meal. If I go to a sushi bar, I'm there to eat sushi (or sashimi, or both). It is not a "filler", it is the meal. Sometimes I'll have sashimi and then sushi (and not the other way around), but the main attraction is the sushi. Sometimes I'll have just sashimi, most of the times just sushi. Mrs. Pickles usually only eats sashimi, since she likes to take small bites of her sushi and that's a no-no in fine establishments.
Otherwise I don't get your question.
Sure, and I would consider sushi bar a casual dinner and not a formal one. Certainly I wouldn't pay Y50,000 for a sushi dinner.
Formal dinners don't have to be kaiseki but will involve many courses anyway. The last item at a formal meal whether a bowl of soba, kamameshi, ochatsuke, or a plate of sushi would be a filler, sometimes called the main dish.
What I really wanted to said to OP is that Japanese food is much more beyond sushi. Sushi is very popular outside of Japan yes. But there are much more things to try while in Japan.
On the topic of good sushi restaurants, the great ones are not only serving great sushi, but the chef would recognize that I am a lefty and place my sushi for my hashi. Same goes for great tempura restaurants. I have yet to get this level of service at Japanese restaurants outside of Japan.