Zucchini: everywhere and nowhere in Japan

I realized something odd at my farmer's market recently: while zucchini is plentiful and easy to find here, especially at this time of year, I rarely (if ever) see it used in Japanese restaurants. Even the small mom-and-pop places that cook with the seasons seem to skip right over it. No zucchini hidden in soups, none in the tempura line-up, none in donburi or as part of izakaya specials.

I'm Australian, but have a half-Italian background, so I buy it fairly frequently and treat it as I always have, thrown into pasta sauces, or grilled and eaten on its own or in salads, but I haven't thought much about "Japanifying" it. Every now and then, I'll spot zucchini sneaking into fusion cafes or Italian restaurants here (maybe in a gratin or as a pizza topping) but it's still fairly rare.

Maybe it's just overshadowed by longer-loved summer staples like nasu, but I still find it funny how I’m surrounded by zucchini and yet never see it on the plate when eating out.

Do you use zucchini much in cooking here? Got any good ways of "Japanifying" it?