杓子(しゃくし)・杓文字(しゃもじ) - Shamoji and Shakushi (ladles and rice scoops)

The words shakushi and shamoji were originally used with the same meaning. They referred to a kitchen utensil used for ladling soup and rice into bowls. Shamoji, in particular, was used as a special word by the ladies of the Muromachi and subsequent Courts. Today, however, these two words have different meanings. Shakushi refers to a soup ladle, while shamoji refers to a flat rice scoop that is in an oval shape.

「杓子」と「杓文字」は、元来同義語で、御飯・汁などをすくう調理道具のことを指していました。「杓文字」は、かつて杓子を意味する女房言葉として、女官(宮中に仕えた女性の官吏)の間で隠語的に使われていました。現在では、汁をすくう道具を「杓子」、御飯をよそう平たい楕円形のものを「杓文字」と呼んでいます。

Soup ladles (shakushi) were formerly made of wood, bamboo, or shells, but they have been replaced by metal soup ladles. Rice scoops (shamoji) made of wood, a material for rice scoops since old times, are still preferred by many people, and at the same time rice scoops (shamoji) made of new materials such as plastic have come into wide use. Rice scoops (shamoji) are a symbol of housewives. Even today, large rice-scoop-shaped placards are used by groups and organizations composed of housewives when they demonstrate. Rice scoops are also symbolic of abundant crops because of their close relation to rice, the staple food of the Japanese. There are some shrines that are famous for selling rice scoops as charms.

汁をすくう杓子は、以前は木、竹、または貝でできていましたが、今日では見かけられなくなり、金属製のものが使用されています。御飯をよそう杓文字は、プラスチックなどの新しい素材でできたものも多く出回っていますが、昔からの木製のものを好む人もまだ多くいます。杓文字は昔から主婦の象徴とされ、今日でも主婦たちの団体がデモを行うときには、プラカードの代わりに大きな杓文字を掲げます。杓文字はまた、日本人の主食である米と密接な関係があるため、五穀豊穣の象徴とされ、護符(お守り)として杓文字を売ることで有名な神社もあります。