Yamahisa Ganko na Kodawari Shoyu Honnama (ヤマヒサ 頑固なこだわりしょうゆ 本生)

The story behind it

Shoyu (soy sauce) has been brewed on Shodoshima for about 400 years. Yamahisa was founded on the island in 1932 by Uematsu Hatsuzo, in Uchinomi, now Yasuda in the town of Shodoshima. Its west and north moromi storehouses were registered as National Tangible Cultural Properties in 2003.

This shoyu was first sold as "Munoyaku Shoyu" (pesticide-free shoyu) and took its present name, "Ganko na Kodawari" (stubborn about the details), in 2007. It is made from Japanese whole soybeans and wheat grown without pesticides, with sun-dried sea salt, and brewed naturally in large cedar barrels in the traditional way.

Honnama means it is not heat-treated, so the yeast is still alive when it is bottled. According to the brewery, most shoyu is finished in four to six months, while at Yamahisa it is not unusual for fermentation to take two years. The brewery has also been featured in the manga Oishinbo.