Furikake (振り掛け, ふりかけ, 振掛け, 振掛) is a dry Japanese condiment[1] sprinkled on top of cooked rice, vegetables, and fish, or used as an ingredient in onigiri.

It typically consists of a mixture of dried fish, sesame seeds, chopped seaweed, sugar, salt, and monosodium glutamate.

"[4] According to this definition, Gomashio (sesame salt), which is traditionally sprinkled on Red bean rice, and shiso, after being used to season umeboshi (pickled plums) and dried and powdered, are also furikake.

The 13th-century culinary treatise "Chujiruiki" (厨事類記) lists shredded and dried red seabream, salmon, and shark meat, as well as thin slices of katsuobushi, as garnishes for rice.

[9] Tsukudani (佃煮), which appears in the 19th century colloquial dictionary "Risogonshuran" (俚言集覧) compiled by Ota Zensai (太田全斎), is made by boiling down small fish, shellfish, seaweed, and other ingredients in soy sauce to a rich flavor.

[14] In 1927, a grocery retailer in Fukushima City named Seiichirō Kai developed a mixture consisting of ishimochi (silver white croaker, Pennahia argentata) with soy sauce seasoning, kelp, and sesame seeds.

Although Kore Wa Umai was initially considered a luxury item for the affluent who were able to consume white rice on a regular basis, it later was made accessible to the Japanese working class.

[13] The availability of furikake in Japan increased starting shortly after September 1948, when Nissin Foods began to manufacture it on a large scale to address pervasive malnourishment.

[13] In the same year, Marumiya Foods developed "Noritama," a sweetened egg added to Kore Wa Umai which became popular as furikake for children.

[6][7] In 1970, Mishima Shokuhin marketed a new furikake, made by reusing the red shiso used to color pickled plums, under the product name Yukari.