What is the difference between Onigiri and Omusubi

Hello! how are they? Welcome to RoYuMi and if you are here it is because you are wondering what is the difference between onigiri and omusubi . (You can watch the video or continue reading below)

The most common are the onigiri , which are these rice balls that are covered in seaweed, which is how they are normally shown in traditional culture and pop culture. In the anime, the manga, the movies will see them like this, although normally they are also filled with different ingredients: some type of fish, vegetables or preserves or even the same rice can be mixed with a type of flavoring based on fish or based on also preserves.

The onigiri and omusubi are normally made by hand and the most traditional way to do it is like a small mountain or a triangle and they come in very varied sizes obviously depending on the size of the person’s hand or the intention and the amount of rice that you have to use in your onigiri or your omusubi.

Going back to the main question, what is the difference between onigiri and omusubi ? Strictly speaking there is no difference . The National Onigiri/Omusubi Association of Japan (it exists believe it or not, here is the link) declared that the three: omusibi, onigiri and nigirimeshi are exactly the same although each of them probably has a different etymological origin.

There are many theories that date back thousands of years and unfortunately it is not the type of information that one can have totally certain and safe because people began to write if it is onigiri for this or it is omusubi for the other, although we have some theories for the type of sound or the words or the kanji that are used.

For example, the word omusubi sounds very similar to the word takami musubi or kami musubi , which were Shinto gods who were in charge of creating what we see on earth. Practically the fact of making them in a triangular shape is our way of interpreting the creation of the mountains as surely these two gods created the mountains so in honor of them we call them omusubi . This is a theory that is not fully confirmed but it is not ruled out either.

There are also theories that simply the wealthiest , most powerful people called their rice balls omusubi and ordinary people called their rice balls onigiri . Obviously this theory is more doubtful, it does not have such a strong phonetic and etymological foundation, but this belief is also quite widespread.

In neither case does onigiri or omusubi make a more substantial difference among the Japanese. There will be some who personally or in a family way call the large version omusubi and the small version onigiri , or the triangle-shaped version omusubi and the ball version onigiri , but these are entirely by private reference.

It is also believed that there is a bit of a difference between the east and west of Japan since in the east it tends to be called more like onigiri and in the west more like omusubi but in fact it is not a rule either and there are many who are in the center we call it onigiri or omusubi in an indiscriminate way.

It also depends a lot on marketing issues if it is a company that prepares them if you want to call them onigiri or omusubi. For example, there is a brand that produces omusubi that rhymes very well with asobi, which is to play, so the brand wants to sell it as a more picturesque and mischievous way of presenting its omusubi.

In any case, both are very tasty , whatever you want to call them in Japan , onigiri and omusubi, everyone will understand them perfectly , no one will be surprised or frightened or will take them badly and they will serve them the same dish.

Have you tried onigiri or omusubi, which is your favourite?