The wooden rice paddle used in sushi preparation is called a shamoji.
A shamoji is a broad, flat Japanese rice paddle used to scoop, stir, and serve rice. In sushi making, it is used to mix cooked rice with seasoned rice vinegar, sugar, and salt while helping the grains cool without crushing them. Traditional paddles may be made from bamboo, wood, or lacquered wood, although plastic versions are now common.
The paddle is normally used with a hangiri, a shallow, round wooden tub. The hangiri provides a wide surface for spreading and cooling sushi rice; the shamoji does the mixing. Confusing these two is a common mistake: the hangiri is the container, while the shamoji is the utensil.
The Japanese shamoji is traditionally associated with Itsukushima in Hiroshima Prefecture, where legend credits a monk with devising it. Its name is also linked to nyōbō kotoba, a historical women’s vocabulary. At Itsukushima Shrine, decorated shamoji became good-luck charms because “scoop up” can sound like “capture” in Japanese.