TOKYO, Oct. 15 -- When one thinks of Japanese cuisine, one could be imagining a hot bowl of ramen or udon noodles.

Or perhaps considering a midnight run to the nearest konbini for a quick snack of an onigiri rice ball. Even Japanese curry is utterly Japanese as it's really a roux-based stew rather than a curry.

What we often forget is that many, if not most, of these dishes benefit from a smidgen of Japanese pickles or tsukemono.

The market-goers are a mix of visitors from other parts of Japan, foreign tourists and the local Nihonbashi community

There are onigiri rice balls that are flecked with chopped up umeboshi (salt-pickled plums). A bowl of yakisoba noodles is elevated with the addition of bright red beni shoga (pickled young gi...