How come some Japanese seafood are served ALIVE/ raw?

The seafood is not "alive" but the nerves are still active throughout the body and this is why it appears to move. The fact they serve it moving is to depict how fresh the fish is.

Fresh food is best.

In anglo culture, the problem is that most people for a long time have eaten processed fish, in the UK, most cod.

In Asia however they eat a variety of seafood, and much of it transported live in tanks. Many seafood restaurants let you choose the live fish or crab that you want to eat.

Serving live raw fish is a practice in Korea and Japan. In Hong Kong they have a way of flash frying a fish, so that it cook, but it is still alive when it arrives on your table.

Such practices are rare.

In fact, fresh sushi is banned in western countries. All Sushi has to be first frozen then thawed, as this kills some common diseases. In Japan and Korea this is not practiced, so the fresh sushi you get in Japan could contain more than we get in western countries.

PS: The more live something is in Asia, the more you pay for it.

they always believe the fresher the better. that is especially practiced in almost all asian countries. so what is fresher then still breathing. in my opinion it seems almost cruel, but the also take the hair off animals to eat by burning it off while they are still alive so take that as you wish.

I have a feeling most of the appeal of ikizukuri is the shock and "because I can" sort of thing.

And maybe just some really sadistic people out there.

you digest better and easier when fish is raw