Not only is rice served at virtually every meal but it's also the basis for many other foods, miso and sake to name but a few. Onigiri are one of the great finger foods found in Japan, they're meals in themselves in a way that Western snacks could never be. Purchased from markets or concession stands, the triangular shaped rice balls are the perfect food for travellers or people too busy to cook. They're very easy to make and are packed as lunches for school kids and businessmen.
Many Japanese markets sell little plastic molds used to press sticky cooked rice into onigiri.
These molds really make the process easy, giving you perfectly shaped rice balls. You can purchase a set of rice ball molds from the kitchen wares market. With your thumb make a depression in the center and place within it some of your chosen filling. Mold the rice to cover the filling and continue to mold the ball into a triangle shape. Wrap the rice ball with a sheet of the nori and it's ready to eat.