"Where did shoyu begin? Yuasa in Wakayama, and the story of a drop from Kinzanji miso"

When and where was shoyu born? Most people keep it on the table as something that has simply always existed, and it is surprisingly little known that its birthplace can be pinned to one specific spot.

The answer is the town of Yuasa (湯浅), in Arida District, Wakayama Prefecture: a small port town facing the Kii Channel, called the birthplace of shoyu in Japan.

It started with drops at the bottom of a miso barrel

In the Kamakura period, the monk Kakushin (覚心), also known as Hotto Kokushi, returned from study in Song China, where he had trained after founding Kokoku-ji temple in Yura in the province of Kishu. Among the things he brought home was the method for Kinzanji miso (金山寺味噌).

Kinzanji miso is a kind of name-miso, in which grains such as soybeans, rice and barley are fermented with melon and eggplant packed in. Because the climate and water of Yuasa suited making it, the town came to produce it in quantity.

What turned up by chance in the course of this was a brown liquid gathering of its own accord at the bottom of the brewing barrels. Tasting this "tamari," with its concentrated salt and savor, people found it was better as a seasoning than the miso. That, the account goes, was the beginning of the prototype of shoyu: tamari (little or no wheat).

A port town where brewing skill grew

Yuasa did not stop at being a birthplace but grew into a major brewing center, and geography is part of the reason.

Facing the Kii Channel, Yuasa had long prospered on sea trade. It was well placed both for obtaining raw materials such as soybeans and wheat and for shipping finished shoyu out to other regions. Its peak came in the Edo period, when close to 90 shoyu breweries are said to have stood side by side here.

The brewing skill honed here is said to have passed on to Choshi and Noda in Chiba, which would later become the great producers of koikuchi shoyu. Trace the roots of the shoyu culture found across Japan today and you arrive at Yuasa.

"Kiippon Kuromame," still made today

Breweries making shoyu and Kinzanji miso remain in Yuasa. One of them is Marushin Honke, founded in 1881.

Its flagship label, "Kiippon Kuromame," is made from 100% contract-grown Tamba black soybeans and given over a year of tennen jozo (naturally brewed, no temperature control) in cedar kioke (wooden barrels). It carries the round sweetness and full depth particular to black soybeans, so much so that you want to call it less a shoyu than a dipping seasoning in its own right. It has also taken a Monde Selection Grand Gold award.

A shoyu made in earnest, in kioke, still kept up in the place where it began. Close to 800 years of brewing history is dissolved into a single drop.

Ways to enjoy Yuasa shoyu

• Sashimi: start with it as it is. The sweetness of the black soybeans lifts the savor of the fish
• Yudofu: the plainer the dish, the more the quality of the shoyu shows
• Dashimaki tamago: its full sweetness sits well with the mildness of egg
• To finish a simmered dish: a few drops at the end change the depth and the gloss

Follow the roots of shoyu, tasting as you go.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the birthplace of shoyu?

The town of Yuasa in Arida District, Wakayama Prefecture, is held to be the birthplace of shoyu in Japan. The account passed down is that in the Kamakura period, liquid collecting at the bottom of the vats used for Kinzanji miso - whose method a monk had brought back from China - was the beginning of shoyu.

Why did shoyu come out of miso?

Because the "tamari" that gathers of its own accord at the bottom of a Kinzanji miso barrel proved valuable as a liquid seasoning, with salt and savor more concentrated than in the miso itself. This became the prototype for tamari shoyu, and it spread across the country along with the brewing skill of Yuasa.

Where can I buy shoyu from Yuasa?

Several breweries remain in Yuasa today, making honjozo shoyu in kioke. Some of their labels, such as "Kiippon Kuromame" from Marushin Honke, can be bought online, Amazon included.