I love sashimi too!O-toro sashimi with about 80% fat is divinnneeeee!!! But it's too expensive... I have it only about once a year.
When I was in the States, my impression was that a lot of people thought Rolls = Sushi. Rolls (Maki) are a kind of sushi. But rolls do not define sushi. I was in Boston back then, and I had a date with this one guy. He wanted to take me out for dinner, and asked me what I liked.
"Alright! Let's have sushi then!" I suggested.
"Awesome, I love sushi too!" He concurred.
So we sat down together in this Japanese restaurant, and I asked,
"Are we sharing?"
"Sure, you can order whatever you want!"
"Great!"
Thrilled, I ordered a bunch of assorted Nigiri and Sashimi.
....
Then 10 min later...
"Er... are these raw?" he asked.
"Yeah, is there a problem?"
"Sorry, I don't eat raw fish."
"But you said you looooooove sushi!"
"Yeah, I do. I just don't eat raw fish."
D:
*Facepalm*
So yeah, he thought only Maki's are sushi. Of course, as mentioned above, the sashimi I ordered doesn't qualify to be sushi, but the nigiri was! There's nothing wrong with liking Maki. I love Maki too. But Maki is of a lower priority than Sashimi and Nigiri sushi. Sashimi is the most plain... so it needs to be fresh to be tasty. You are also going to enjoy the fish's natural texture. It's the expensive stuff. You don't walk in a restaurant, fill yourself up with Maki before you enjoy Sashimi. The heavy sauces and sometimes the crunchy flour in some Maki is going to ruin your palate when you eat Sashimi. So you should eat your Sashimi first, then your Nigiri, then your Maki. I prefer my guy to have a little bit more food culture. Needless to say, we didn't date again.
Later, another guy who tried to date me said something very similar... He told me he LOOOOOVED sushi, but he doesn't even eat fish (not even cooked). I dropped my jaw... and no, I didn't date him.
This was back in the late 90s though. I think people in the US these days know a lot more about sushi than before.