Stories

What US customs allows you to carry home from Japan. Soy sauce, miso, vinegar and salt are generally admissible as condiments, dashi with meat extract is not, and liquids over 100ml have to go in checked baggage. With the declaration rule and the official sources.

What Taiwan customs allows you to carry home from Japan. Everyone is screened since the 2025 swine fever outbreak, pork products carry fines from NT$200,000, and ordinary seasonings sit within a 6kg allowance.

What Hong Kong allows you to carry home from Japan. Food in reasonable quantities for personal use is generally not controlled, the restrictions are narrow and specific, and seasonings sit outside all of them.

What EU customs allows you to carry home from Japan. Meat and dairy are banned outright with no small-quantity exception, fishery products are capped at 20kg, and most seasonings sit outside both rules. With the official sources.

What Australian biosecurity allows you to carry home from Japan. Commercially packaged, shelf-stable sauces are allowed, everything must go on the Incoming Passenger Card, and declaring protects you even when an item is refused.

The reason not to boil miso soup is not that the microbes die. Most miso sold in stores is heat-treated, so its microbes are already inactive. The real reason is aroma. Miso's aroma comes from compounds built on alcohol made by yeast during fermentation, and they escape above 90C. Here is the 75C mark where aroma shows best, and how to manage the heat to get there.

Which prefecture is yuzu kosho from, and what goes into it? The answer usually given is the mountains of Hita City in Oita Prefecture, and the ingredients are just 3 - yuzu peel, chili and salt - with not a single peppercorn among them. Told alongside the story of Kawadu Shokuhin, which has been making a coarse-chopped yuzu kosho since 1963, and kept to what the record actually supports.

It looks like water and tastes like shoyu. Starting from "Toumei Shoyu" by Fundodai in Kumamoto, here is where the color of shoyu comes from, the line of thinking it shares with usukuchi shoyu and shirodashi, and the dishes it belongs on.

The difference between fresh koji and dried koji, the choice you face when making shio-koji or amazake, sorted out by keeping quality, quantity and the finished taste. Plus the work of the tanekojiya upstream of all koji, and the fresh koji Ishikuro Tanekojiten in Toyama raises by the koji-buta method.

Why Toyama Prefecture sits at the top of Japan for kombu consumption. The kitamaebune trade and the medicine peddlers that rooted kombu in a place that harvests none of it, the habit of wrapping rice balls in tororo kombu, and Kuro Tororo from Aimono Kombu in Kurobe.

Where the shoyu that Edo called "murasaki" was actually made. Tsuchiura in Ibaraki was counted with Choshi and Noda among the great brewing districts of Kanto. Shibanuma Shoyu Jozo, founded in 1688 (Genroku 1), still brews there in kioke (wooden barrels), and its flagship is "Shiho." Here is the story from the production side, plus how the word spread as shop shorthand and how far a customer should take it.

The difference between ponzu and ajitsuke ponzu (ponzu shoyu). Ponzu originally meant citrus juice alone, here are the 3 things to read on the ingredient list, plus a ponzu from Uchibori Jozo, a vinegar specialist in Gifu founded in 1876.

How to choose a mentsuyu (noodle dipping sauce) with no additives, read straight off the ingredient list. How to tell real dashi from umami seasoning, the difference between straight and concentrated types, and a tsuyu from Sasacho Jozo in Iwate, founded in 1906.

How kuro shichimi differs from ordinary shichimi togarashi. Why roasting and rubbing the ingredients darkens the color, how it is built for aroma rather than heat, and the single-heir craft carried on for three hundred years at Hara Ryokaku in Gion.

What kinira is, how shutting out light turns garlic chives golden, why Okayama accounts for about 70% of national output, and the kinira shoyu built by Tora Shoyu of Kurashiki, founded in 1860.

What shirodashi is, explained through what separates it from shiro shoyu and from mentsuyu. Covers how it sets a flavor while leaving an ingredient's color intact, and how to use one bottle from a Nihonbashi house founded in the Genroku era.

The difference between refined salt and what people call natural salt, explained through one thing: whether the nigari is left in. How salt that is 99% sodium chloride came about, how the taste differs, and what the labelling rules actually allow, with the salt of Gotonada in Nagasaki as the example.

Where the sharp catch of vinegar comes from. Built around the difference between quick fermentation and static fermentation, this looks at what makes acidity turn round and how to choose a rice vinegar, using as its example a vinegar fermented in earthenware jars for 300 years in Obama, Fukui.

How okonomi sauce differs from Worcester sauce and chuno sauce, read through the viscosity classes of the JAS standard. Plus the dates behind Otafuku's sweetness, and the local sauce culture of Osaka.

The difference between whole-soybean (marudaizu) shoyu and shoyu made with defatted processed soybean, explained by how to read the ingredient list. Why the oil in the bean brings roundness, plus one bottle brewed with whole soybeans at a kioke brewery in Kawajima, Saitama.

Mentsuyu and shoyu differ in 3 ways: sweetness, dashi, and dilution. Shoyu tightens a dish with salt; mentsuyu is built to be complete only once it reaches your mouth along with the noodles. Including dashi shoyu, which sits between them, here is how to use each at home, with Kamada Shoyu (founded 1789) and Yamae Shokuhin Kogyo's straight-style Takachihokyo Tsuyu as examples.

Deep in the mountains of Kochi, the village of Umajimura (population about 800) turned its yuzu harvest into a ponzu called Yuzu no Mura. From the collapse of forestry to a grand prize at the 101 Villages of Japan fair, here is the story behind the bottle and how to use it.

Taihaku sesame oil has almost no color and almost no scent. Here is how it is made compared with the roasted kind, why it keeps depth instead of aroma, why cooks and pastry chefs choose it, and the bottle from Kuki Sangyo in Yokkaichi.

Most of the wasabi in supermarket tubes is mainly Western horseradish. What separates it from hon-wasabi, how the scent and the heat differ in kind, what the spring water of Shizuoka does for hon-wasabi, and why heat drives the scent off - all from the angle of what to buy.

What jar-brewed kurozu is. The method of fermenting rice, rice koji and groundwater alone for over a year in the open-air "jar fields" of Fukuyama in Kagoshima, why the taste turns round, and how to use it, with Sakamoto no Kurozu as the example.

What Rausu kombu is. Why it is called the king of kombu alongside ma-kombu and Rishiri kombu, what its rich golden dashi tastes like, how dashi kombu differs by growing region, and how to draw the dashi properly.

An explanation of budo sansho. Why Aridagawa Town in Wakayama Prefecture is called the birthplace of sansho, what marks out these large berries that ripen in clusters, how the scent differs from ordinary ground sansho on the shelf, and how to use it on unagi or in mapo tofu.

The history of Yagenbori in Edo, where shichimi togarashi was born. We look at the blend of seven spices carried on by Yagenbori, founded in 1625, how it differs from ichimi togarashi, and what to look for when buying.

Why two bottles labeled the same way sit at very different prices. We look at the amount of rice the JAS standard requires, at the vinegar Iio Jozo makes in Miyazu, Kyoto, starting from its own rice paddies, and at how to pick a good rice vinegar.

A close look at "Stamina Gen-tare," the bottle in every household in Aomori. Kamikita Nosan Kako, founded in 1952, starts from shoyu (soy sauce) brewed with Aomori soybeans and wheat, then grates in 4 kinds of fresh produce - apple, garlic, onion and ginger. It has long since outgrown the label of yakiniku sauce: stir-fries, fried rice, a marinade for karaage, all from one bottle. This is the seasoning Aomori grew up on.

The difference between sun-evaporated salt and kettle-boiled salt. What the fully sun-evaporated method is, how taste and minerals differ, and how to choose, with "Amami" from Kuroshio Town in Kochi as the example.

A guide to Sendai miso: the history that begins with the Oensogura, the official brewery Date Masamune set up below his castle, the character of a long-aged red and salty miso, the story of the "name miso" that made its reputation in Edo, and how to use it.

A look at ishiri (also called ishiru), the fish sauce of Noto. How it is fermented for over 2 years from nothing but squid innards and salt, how it relates to shottsuru and ikanago shoyu, and its distinctive savor and uses.

A look at the dashi shoyu behind the seasoning at Yamagata's imoni gatherings. How dashi shoyu differs from ordinary shoyu, and the story of Aji Marujyu from Marujuoya, a first-recall brand descended from safflower merchants.

How shoyu koji differs from shio koji, in terms of ingredients and taste. How koji creates savor, and the story of a "shoyu koji" made in Ono, the shoyu brewing quarter of Kanazawa.

The two to reach for are "Kanro Shoyu" from Sagawa Shoyuten in Yanai, Yamaguchi (founded 1830), about 900 yen for 300ml, and "Tsurubishio" from Yamaroku Shoyu on Shodoshima, Kagawa, in the low 2,000 yen range for 500ml. Where it sits among the 5 JAS categories of shoyu, why simmering and stir-frying erase what makes it good, and whether to pick it for sashimi or for rice with raw egg. Named makers, prices, and how to choose. Plus where the Edo-period story of the lord of Iwakuni murmuring "kanro, kanro" comes from.

What "Yukishio," the salt Miyakojima in Okinawa is known for, actually is - explained through the underground seawater filtered by Ryukyu limestone and the maker's own flash-evaporation method. With a note on its range of minerals and how to use it.

Kyushu miso tastes sweet without any sugar. The reason is koji buai - the ratio of koji to soybeans. Kyushu's barley miso uses 15 to 20 parts barley koji to 10 parts soybeans, 1.5 to 2 times the koji of a standard rice miso, and barley koji converts starch into sugar readily. Aging is short, 1 to 3 months, so the sugar stays sugar. Salt sits at about 9-11% against about 12% for rice miso. Here is how barley miso and rice miso differ, plus makers in Oita, Nagasaki and Ehime (Fundokin Shoyu, Choko Shoyu, Gino Miso).

How honkarebushi differs from hanakatsuo (shaved katsuobushi), read through the mold-culturing step and the aging period. Plus how honkarebushi is made at a long-standing house in Yaizu, and how to draw dashi from it.

How tamari differs from koikuchi shoyu, seen through the mix of raw ingredients, the color and the savor. Includes what the black sauce on Ise udon really is, and a bottle from a maker whose tamari is presented at the Ise Grand Shrine.

How akazake, the local sake of Kumamoto, differs from mirin, looked at through the making, the chemistry and what it does to a finished dish. Includes how "akumochizake," preserved with wood ash instead of heat, works, and a bottle from Zuiyo, brewing since the days of the Hosokawa domain.

What "kuratsuki" resident microbes mean in shoyu brewing. Why kioke brewing has fallen to about 1% of production, what an old method with no temperature control actually involves, and a bottle from a Shiga brewery registered as a national cultural property.

A dish-by-dish guide to using usukuchi (light-colored) shoyu, plus what to check when you buy one online. The swap ratio from koikuchi, the salt content that catches people out, ways to finish a bottle, and a naturally brewed bottle from Tatsuno where usukuchi began.

Soya no Shio is a salt made from seawater drawn off the seabed of the Soya Strait, at Wakkanai in Hokkaido. Its magnesium runs to over 3,000mg per 100g, a figure that stands out even in Japan. Here is the pronunciation, the method of spraying brine onto a heated drum, how it differs from refined salt, and where to buy it and for how much.

A side-by-side look at Kyoto's Saikyo Miso (founded 1830, a house that once supplied the Kyoto Imperial Palace) and Sanuki shiro miso from Kagawa. Salt at about 5% against 5 to 6%, koji ratios, and whether you can substitute one for the other in Saikyo-zuke, white miso zoni and sumiso-ae.

A look at "kanzuri," the fermented chili seasoning of Myoko in Niigata. Why the chilies are laid out on snow, the 3-year fermentation with koji and yuzu, how it differs from yuzu kosho, and how to use it in hot pots and other dishes.

A look at moshio-yaki, the oldest salt-making in Japan, sung about in the Manyoshu. How it came back on Kami-Kamagarijima in Hiroshima, why the seaweed hondawara gives it savory depth, and how to use it.

A guide to Hatcho miso, the dark miso behind Nagoya's food. Why a miso made without rice koji took root in the Tokai region, the stone-stacking craft, the aging over two summers and two winters, and how to use it at home.

A guide to agodashi, dashi made from flying fish. Where the name "ago" comes from, why the fish is grilled before drying, how it differs from katsuo dashi, the standard products from Sakaiminato and Fukuoka, and how to use it at home.

An explanation of shottsuru, the local seasoning of Akita. Where the name "Japan's three great fish sauces" comes from, how it is made from nothing but hatahata and salt, and how to use it beyond the shottsuru hot pot.

A look at the history of Yuasa in Wakayama Prefecture, held to be the birthplace of shoyu. How shoyu is said to have come out of Kinzanji miso, and how to choose a kioke-brewed shoyu made in earnest.

A guide to agehama-style salt making, which survives only in Suzu, Ishikawa Prefecture. Its 500 years, the work of the hamaji, what the salt tastes like, and how to buy it.

Why the shoyu of Kyushu is sweet, explained through the region's history and climate. Includes how the sweetness differs between Kagoshima, Kumamoto, Fukuoka and the rest, how to read a label, and which bottle makes the best first one.

The difference between mirin-style seasoning and hon-mirin, explained through ingredients, method and taste. How to pick out real mirin, and what it does to your cooking.