Why Almost Every Japanese Meal Comes With Pickles

How a tiny serving of Japanese pickles can make a huge difference

8 min readDec 17, 2020

What is this little thing in my bento box?

If you’ve ever picked up a Japanese bento box or ordered a traditional Japanese meal, more likely than not you would’ve found that it came with a tiny portion of pickles. Perhaps a small red umeboshi on your rice, or a bit of purple shibazuke piled up on the side, it’s not uncommon to find one or th other tucked into a Japanese meal.

Pickles are so commonly found in Japanese dishes, that they’re actually seldom mentioned — like how you’d expect your fries to come with a packet of ketchup or your steak to come with potatoes, it’s known to be the default pairing to rice and miso soup.

But the interesting thing about these pickles is that the amount you’d be served in a meal is usually so tiny, it can be hard to imagine why it’s even included in the first place. To be honest, I often wondered to myself why so many people bothered to include such a small detail in their meals — the pickles are hardly the main event, yet why are they so ubiquitous throughout Japanese cuisine?

But it turns out that this small detail plays a big role in terms of eating well, but not in the way that you might imagine.

Zen Buddhism and the rise in popularity of Japanese pickles

While pickles have existed for centuries, it’s believed that popular use of Japanese pickles arrived with the development of Zen Buddhism around the 12th century. While conventional Buddhism honored salvation in the next life, Zen Buddhism placed more focus on living better in this life, which led to a shift toward valuing the role of healthy food and a well-balanced lifestyle.

Today, there are believed to be over 4000 varieties of pickles in Japan — from a slightly sweet gari to a deeply salty nozawana-zuke.

With the adoption of Zen Buddhist teachings, more people began to innovate with pickles, as they were seen as the perfect way to dress a well-rounded meal — they were an accessible form of vegetables, had a relatively long shelf life, and added lots of color and interesting variety to flavor. In addition to the many health benefits of pickling — such as improving digestion or reducing inflammation — the pickling process often helps increase natural umami flavors in vegetables and makes meals taste that much more savory and complex.

Today, there are believed to be over 4000 varieties of pickles in Japan, from fairly sweet gari (pickled ginger that comes with sushi) to quite salty nozawana-zuke (pickled mustard leaves). Other common varieties include umeboshi, takuan (pickled daikon radish), or kyuri-asazuke (pickled cucumbers) — all varying in saltiness, brine, texture, and flavor.

Why Japanese pickles are good for you

Japanese pickles are delicious and provide a good dose of nutrition, but they are not necessarily the star of the show: Rather than a statement on boosting health or flavoring the meal as a whole, its inclusion in Japanese cuisine is a side-note suggestion on the role of quality and care in daily meals.

An important note, which can transform the way we approach our meals.

Aesthetically pleasing food holds our attention.

Japanese people would rarely consider pickles a make-or-break addition to a meal, but it’s not expensive, it’s not time-consuming, and it makes your meals more beautiful, so why not?

A single, red umeboshi to a bed of plain white rice or a serving of thinly-sliced beni-shoga on top of a savory pork ramen can make a difference in terms of aesthetic appeal. A small serving of kyuri-asazuke to start a meal, or amazuke-rakkyo to add an extra kick to a Japanese curry, can also make a meal feel that much more special. Sometimes a small serving of pickles is all you need to help pay a bit more attention to color, variety, and the overall quality of what you eat.

The fact they’re so minor is what makes their inclusion meaningful.

It’s easy to dismiss pickles because they’re small and essentially serve as a condiment. But the addition of pickles, while not wholly necessary to eat well, is meaningful because it’s a detail that makes a difference in flavor, appearance, and even hospitality.

Developing healthier habits

Japanese pickles are so ubiquitous in meals because it’s a representation of care and quality. The small details matter because they help make home cooking and eating well that much more joyful, which can also translate to healthier habits like taking the time to sit down and eat without a phone or laptop, slowing down and tasting food before swallowing, and making mealtime an event to look forward to rather than something to be rushed through.

While we might not have the time to commit to an hour-long endeavor to create complex dishes, taking just an extra moment to upgrade our meal can make a difference: even something as simple as a tiny serving of pickles.

nt to learn how to stay lean without restrictive diets, find peace, and age gracefully in your own body? Stay in the loop and get the guide! I write about Japanese culture, food, and ideas. I keep it simple, helpful, fun, and approachable. Join the community!