BERKELEY — UC Berkeley students will build a giant California roll on Sunday, Nov. 8, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. on upper Sproul Plaza.

The students plan to construct a 330-foot-long roll, starting at the plaza fountain just north of the intersection of Bancroft Way and Telegraph Avenue and going north to Sather Gate. Their goal is to best the current world record of 300 feet set in Maui in 2001.

On the organizers' grocery list are at least 536 sheets of nori, 102 pounds of dry rice, 167 pounds of a fish-based product called surimi, 67 pounds of cucumbers and 67 pounds of avocados.

More than 350 students — divided into 58 teams with names like Smashin' Sushi, AvoCALdoes, Cal Taiko Roll Masterz, and Nobunga — are signed up for the competition. They represent sororities, fraternities, service organizations, residence halls and other groups.

The event is being sponsored by UC Berkeley's Center for Japanese Studies. Cal Dining and numerous food vendors have donated ingredients. It will follow a morning symposium on the history and contemporary forms of Japanese food culture. Cal Dining staff members have provided team leaders with a crash course on sushi-making.

Drummers from Cal Raijin Taiko will provide a dramatic acoustic backdrop for the competition. San Francisco-based Consul General of Japan Yasumasa Nagamine will be on hand to verify contest results.

After the roll is officially measured, it will be eaten by students on the spot. Approximately 18 feet will be vegetarian.

Chef Ichiro Mashita of the Tokyo Kaikan restaurant in Los Angeles is generally considered to be the inventor of the California roll, a hybridization of Japanese sushi that began popping up on menus in the early 1970s. In Japan, it is called Kashu-maki, which literally means "California roll."

CJS Events

Other upcoming CJS-sponsored events:

• "Shots in the Dark: Japan, Zen, and the West" with Shoji Yamada of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies on Tuesday, Nov. 3, from 4 to 6 p.m. in the IEAS (Institute of East Asian Studies) Conference Room, 2223 Fulton St., sixth floor.

• "Japanese Food Culture on the Global Stage: Scholarly Roundtable" on Sunday, Nov. 8, from 9 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. in the Toll Room of the Alumni House, located on the south side of the campus, east of Haas Pavilion, north of Zellerbach Hall, and southwest of Dwinelle Hall. The nearest off-campus intersection is Bancroft Way and Dana.

• "Japanese Food Culture on the Global Stage: Washoku and Wine," a gala benefit dinner, on Sunday, Nov. 8, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at the Culinary Institute of America, 2555 Main St., St. Helena. Co-sponsored by JETRO (Japan External Trade Organization).

• "Japanese Studies at Berkeley: Past, Present and Future," a conference, on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in the Toll Room of the Alumni House. Co-sponsored by the Japan Foundation.

For more information, visit http://ieas.berkeley.edu/cjs/.