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Salt was a major product of many regions of premodern and early modern Japan, and had a variety of important uses, including for the preservation of food. Salt was also a prominent [[tribute]] good paid to the [[Imperial Court]] in the [[Nara period|Nara]] and [[Heian period]]s, and a major form of tax payments to the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in the [[Edo period]], especially from those regions which were not particularly strong in rice production.

Salt was a major product of many regions of premodern and early modern Japan, and had a variety of important uses, including for the preservation of food. Salt was also a prominent [[tribute]] good paid to the [[Imperial Court]] in the [[Nara period|Nara]] and [[Heian period]]s, and a major form of tax payments to the [[Tokugawa shogunate]] in the [[Edo period]], especially from those regions which were not particularly strong in rice production.

The "production" of salt by extracting it from seawater is mentioned as early as in the ''[[Manyoshu|Man'yôshû]]'' (8th c.), and was probably practiced since considerably earlier than that. Though Japan can be quite hot, and quite sunny in many regions in the summer, most regions are also quite humid, and so sunlight alone is generally ineffective for extracting salt from seawater. Since the earliest times, therefore, water was typically boiled over a fire, in earthenware pots; iron cauldrons are known to have been used in the [[Inland Sea]] area since at least the 8th century. Seaweed immersed or dipped in seawater and then shaken or squeezed over the pot was often used to produce even more salt in a given batch.

The "production" of salt by extracting it from seawater is mentioned as early as in the ''[[Manyoshu|Man'yôshû]]'' (8th c.), and was probably practiced since considerably earlier than that. In fact, archaeological evidence suggests that seawater was being intentionally evaporated to produce salt as early as the Late [[Jomon period|Jômon period]], and that the salt was even being transported, or traded, further inland. Jômon people may have also extracted salt from the soil. Salt production from the sea seems to have dropped off dramatically shortly before the beginning of the [[Yayoi period]], however.<ref>Tatsuo Kobayashi, “Nurturing the Jomon,” in ''Jomon Reflections'' (Oxford: Oxbow, 2004), 81.</ref>

 

Though Japan can be quite hot, and quite sunny in many regions in the summer, most regions are also quite humid, and so sunlight alone is generally ineffective for extracting salt from seawater. Since classical times, therefore, water was typically boiled over a fire, in earthenware pots; iron cauldrons are known to have been used in the [[Inland Sea]] area since at least the 8th century. Seaweed immersed or dipped in seawater and then shaken or squeezed over the pot was often used to produce even more salt in a given batch.

Seashore women hauling buckets of water, collecting seaweed, and/or boiling the water in pots on the shore are a common trope seen in classical Japanese poetry, and especially in certain classical stories such as the ''[[Tales of Ise]]'' and plays based on them. One of the most famous [[Noh]] plays featuring such characters is ''[[Matsukaze]]'', in which the ghosts of two such women pine for the aristocratic man who once visited them while he was in exile.

Seashore women hauling buckets of water, collecting seaweed, and/or boiling the water in pots on the shore are a common trope seen in classical Japanese poetry, and especially in certain classical stories such as the ''[[Tales of Ise]]'' and plays based on them. One of the most famous [[Noh]] plays featuring such characters is ''[[Matsukaze]]'', in which the ghosts of two such women pine for the aristocratic man who once visited them while he was in exile.