For whatever reason, and for whatever it’s worth, I distinctly recall a delicious very orange gingery dressing I was served regularly on salads when I lived in Japan for a year fifteen years ago. In particular, it was served up very regularly in school lunches (I worked for the public school system at the time).
Look at the pictures. Despite being sometimes described as “white,” the yum yum all looks orangish to me, though lighter than the dark orange-to-brown ginger dressing. (The OP is asking about the one that resembles Thousand Island, which the ginger would not.)
As for putting it on salad… the restaurant might not plan it that way, but I’m sure some people do. I may like the ginger dressing on my hibachi, if I’m in such a place (and don’t like yum yum at all); others no doubt feel the reverse. There’s really no argument against putting it on the salad; it’s not exactly traditional in any usage, and it basically is cheap American salad dressing. Soybean oil and corn syrup.
I know exactly what you mean, and it is like Thousand Island that someone has whispered exotic(!) words like “sesame” and “ginger” over. It just makes me crave a patty melt in the worst possible venue to obtain one…
Am I on everyone’s ignore list?
Weird… it seems like someone just said something.
I’m not sure if Miso dressing is what the OP is thinking about or not, but going with the most common “Japanese” place in America it would probably be Benihana. They serve everyone a salad with a ginger dressing that looks somewhat like Thousand Island.
How about something similar to this vegetable dressing? If so, it (or its equivalent) is commonly used in casual restaurants around Japan.