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Tsukemono, Japanese pickles, are a constant part of every Japanese meal that contains rice – they are usually combined into a set with the rice and miso soup (ichiju issai, “one soup and one vegetable”). Pickling was an important way of preserving vegetables and get the necessary vitamins also in winter. In the past, Japanese families did their own pickling, as some farmers still do. There are many ways of making tsukemono, but as none of these involves the use of distilled vinegar or acetic acid, we should in fact call them “preserved vegetables”, rather than pickles in the Western sense. Tsukemono are also eaten with chazuke (”green tea over rice”), or just with a cup of green tea after the meal. Last but not least, they also make an excellent companion to sake.

On menus, such as of the kaiseki cuisine, tsukemono are called “(o-)shinko.”

Here are the major types of pickling:

• With salt (shiozuke). The easiest and most popular method. Sliced vegetables are salted and put under a weight in the pickling press (tsukemonoki). The salt is removed by washing before serving. Very light pickles can be made by just keeping them in the press for one night (ichiyazuke). [This is also called "asazuke", although asazuke are not only made with salt, but also with vinegar or rice bran. The original flavor is the vegetable is preserved in this way].
  Best example: umeboshi, Japanese apricots.
  
  [Photo by Ad Blankestijn]
• With soy sauce (shoyuzuke). Mirin is usually added to the soy sauce.
  Best example: Fukujinzuke, a pickle of seven kinds of vegetables (as there are “Seven Deites of Good Fortune,” fukujin), the fixed companion of curry dishes. Has a crunchy texture. Vegetables used are daikon, eggplant, cucumber, etc.
• With miso (misozuke). The miso is usually mixed with sake. This method is used for pickling whole vegetables, such as pumpkin.
  
  [Photo from Flickr by framboise]
• With vinegar (suzuke). Japanese vinegar is low in acidity, so like the other types, this is also more a preserved vegetable than a real pickle.
  Best examples: rakkyo, pickled scallions or gari, the pickled slices of ginger eaten to refresh the mouth between dishes of sushi.
• With rice bran (nukazuke). Used with salt and chilies. The vegetables are buried in a bed of the rice bran (nukadoko) for a period of several months.
  Best example: takuan, pickled daikon radish, colored yellow by adding turmeric (ukon). Named after a famous priest who purportedly invented this type of pickle.
  
  [Photo from Flickr by shiokuma]
• With sake lees (kasuzuke). Sake lees are mixed with shochu, sugar and salt. This method of pickling takes a very long time.
  Best example: narazuke, the representative pickle of Nara City, mostly made with pickling melon (shirouri).
  
  [Photo from Flickr by ancorena]
• With koji (kojizuke). Koji is a mold that is cultivated on rice and that is responsible for the sugarification of the starch in the rice as well as the production of other enzymes. A pickling method for winter.
  Best example: bettarazuke, using daikon. Has a sweet flavor and alcoholic aroma. The name derives from the “stickiness” of this type of pickle.
  
  「Photo from Wikipedia]
• With Japanese mustard (karashizuke). A pickling bed is made of mustard mixed with the sakekasu (lees) we already saw above.
  Best example: karashi-nasu, using eggplant.

Not all tsukemono fit neatly into these categories. The famous senmaizuke consists of slices of turnip (kabu) pickled with salt plus konbu, mirin and chili pepper so that a distinctive umami flavor develops.

Tsukemono can be bought in supermarkets and other food stores, but there are also specialist shops, often set up by the makers. Kyoto and Nara have many such tsukemono shops and tsukemono from these cities form a popular omiyage (present brought home by travelers).