【Reading】きわく

【English Name】Wooden Frame

When shaping pressed sushi or box sushi into a uniform rectangular block, the kiwaku (wooden frame) serves as the mold. By packing vinegared rice and ingredients in alternating layers and applying pressure from above, a beautiful form with crisp corners is produced. Highly absorbent woods such as hinoki and sawara are preferred because they draw a moderate amount of moisture from the vinegared rice, raising the quality of the finished product. Regional sushi across Japan—Osaka-born box sushi (battera), Kyoto's representative mackerel sushi, and more—is deeply tied to this shaping mold.

In the broad sense of "a structure composed of a frame made of wood," its uses extend beyond sushi. In ancient Mesopotamia, bricks were mass-produced by filling square molds with mud and drying them in the sun. In the case of canvas for oil painting, sailcloth is stretched over a wooden frame to make a support. In a lantern, a cover of paper over a wooden frame protects the flame from the wind. Furthermore, in the field of logistics, "crate packing," in which boards are joined in a lattice pattern, has become widely adopted as a protective measure for large cargo.