This cucumber garnish needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Over time, this term was also applied to pickles, again for the smell.

To make tsukemono, one needs a container, salt, and something to apply downward pressure on top of the pickles. This type of pickle press is still in use, and can be made from a variety of materials, such as plastic, wood, glass or ceramic. Before tsukemono ishi came into use, the pressure was applied by driving a wedge between a handle of the container and its lid. The weights are either stone or metal, with a handle on top and often covered with a layer of food-neutral plastic.