I get this question very often – “What is the white powder in the little dish on the floor beside the door inside my salon?”
The answer is “Salt! It’s there to bring good luck and to purify. It’s a belief from the Shinto religion in Japan.”
The mound of salt is called “mori-shio” (盛り塩, heaped salt) and is placed there to bring good luck and to purify the guest. Salt has been one of the most essential ingredients along with rice for Japanese throughout history. It is considered to represent “cleanliness” and “purity”.
Today we still see Sumo wrestlers throw a handful of salt into the Sumo ring before they start a match. The custom is also to make the ground clear psychologically. The Japanese have had this kind of belief system and values since the Edo period. Especially, in the old days, Sumo matches were often performed in front of the emperor or at shrines so they wanted everything to be purified for the emperor.
You might also find a small mound of salt placed on one or both sides of an entrance way at a traditional Japanese restaurant. Some say that the origin of mori-shio piles outside restaurants was to encourage the arrival of rich and noble customers such as a “daimyo,” who would come on horseback. Since horses love salt the horses would be attracted to that restaurant and the daimyo would then stop and eat there!.
We are wishing all visiting Serenity Salon will have a big good luck and a pure mind!