【Reading】おしがた / すしがた

【English Name】Sushi press mold

An oshigata (sushi mold) is a cooking tool that packs vinegared rice and ingredients such as fish and vegetables in layers into a wooden frame and applies pressure from above to shape it uniformly; it is used when making pressed sushi (oshizushi) and box sushi (hakozushi). The structure consists of three parts: a base board, a frame, and a top lid, with hinoki (cypress) and sugi (cedar) commonly used as materials. Molded sushi existed before nigiri sushi spread; the 1728 publication "Ryori Komoku Chomisho" contains a description of box sushi, and a molded-and-pressed sushi culture took root mainly in Osaka. Rectangular shapes are common, but there is also great variety such as round and fan shapes, and dedicated molds are used for local sushi across regions, such as Toyama's masu-zushi and Kyoto's saba-zushi. In modern times, plastic household molds are also common.