Salt at the Door
My favorite New York yakitori has a sister restaurant named Tory’s (Get it? Yakitorys. Ha ha). Anyway, I went for my first visit at the end of last y ear year and noticed two small, curious saucers of salt just outside the entrance. I asked the manager what the dishes were for. “Oh,” he said, “that’s tradition.” I thought that was interesting because I’ve never seen salt outside the door to a restaurant before.
I thought perhaps it had something to do with Shinto, which uses salt to purify and protect people (think of the way Shinto priests throw salt around at the start of a Sumo match, for example). The manager denied that salt outside a restaurant has any Shinto connection (not sure I believe him). Then he started to talk about how horses used to stop outside a restaurant and lick the salt, and then he got confused and said he wasn’t sure, and then I thought I’d better let him off the hook (though he phoned his boss to ask about the origin of salt outside a restaurant).
I went to the expert on all things Japanese in my life, which is my mother, but she’d never heard of the salt-outside-the-door tradition either. So, finally, this past weekend when my good friend who grew up in a kaiseki restaurant in Kyoto came for a visit, I asked him the same question. He didn’t have much to say except that salt outside the door is supposed to protect guests, and ward off evil. (“What, like the yakuza?” I joked. I was the only one who found this quip funny).
So, anyone out there seen any salt outside the door? Let me know. I’ll be looking for it the next time I’m in Japan.
And, one final thing. I asked the manager at Tory’s if the salt was “Japanese.”
“Of course!” he exclaimed.
Not all salts are the same.
Poor Mari….she’s my favorite. If I ever become a j-pop singer and part of the...
It’s very common round these parts, Marie. Both outside businesses and homes.
February 17th, 2007 at 8:14 pmHere’s my favourite explanation.
They’re fairly common ’round here too, but I guess it’s the kind of thing you don’t notice if you’re not looking for it.
February 17th, 2007 at 8:35 pmI think this topic was covered in the following video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCpbBVthD7o
February 17th, 2007 at 10:36 pm(Just realised this was already mentioned above by anonymous….)
February 17th, 2007 at 10:43 pmOh that video is hysterical in so many ways!
February 18th, 2007 at 12:22 amMarie, as overoften noted, putting salt outside the door is very common in Japan. Lots of hostess bars do it in Tokyo and Osaka, and some restaurants also do it, homes as well. It’s a very old tradition, and if you walk through Shinjuku or Ginza on any night, you will see the salt outside many bar and club doors. The reason for this, when i researched the issue in 1991, in Tokyo, is this: salt was put outside geisha places and other drinking establishments for good luck (to bring customers) since in the old days, patrons arrived by horse-drawn carriage or whatever, and the horses like salt, and if the owner put salt outside the door, the horse would stop and lick the salt, the passengers could think about coming in, and voila, business began to boom. I think this is how the salt licks began. Ask your mom again. I thought this was common knowledge in Japan. Maybe not.
February 18th, 2007 at 11:35 amAs Danny said…it was thought to bring customers since the horses would like the salt. Putting salt outside places, especially non-chain drinking establishments, is extremely popular in Tokyo (can’t speak for Osaka…).
February 18th, 2007 at 11:43 amThe manager did tell me about the horses — so that fits in with what you both have written.
My Mom honestly didn’t know! But then she may not have gone to may bars or clubs–so maybe that makes her uncommon! Seriously, when I think about it, my ignorance about the salt tells you something of my experiences in Japan!
Thanks to everyone for writing and clarifying. It is always good to learn something new.
February 18th, 2007 at 1:42 pmI blogged this phenomenon last March from Ashikaga (and linked to that wonderful Youtube clip), but when I went back to the same restaurant later that spring, there were no more shiomori beside the door. The proprietor explained that business had picked up and so he didn’t need any more oxen stopping by.
February 18th, 2007 at 4:57 pmJoel
theres a pretty fancy sushi restaurant in the West LA area… I think it’s called Mori’s but not sure, but I remember when I was a kid and was playing around outside, I accidentally stepped on a pile of salt and a manager inside came out and asked me to be careful next time.
February 22nd, 2007 at 3:26 amThis is an old custom called kiyomejio (きよめじお）or morijio (もりじお) that started in China.
March 4th, 2007 at 12:21 amWe noticed this outside the Shunkoin Temple in Kyoto. Trying to figure out why salt would be outside a temple, and ran across this blog. Wonder if it is to keep away evil spirits as well.
February 14th, 2009 at 12:13 amI went to a really nice sushi place in niseko, we had famous hokkaido crab which was delicious, and there were two small bowls of salt outside of the establishment.
January 8th, 2010 at 9:04 pm