The History of Soy Sauce

Historians believe that the kind of soy sauce we use today was first developed during the Kamakura Period (1192-1333). It is said that a monk called Kakushin at a Zen temple in Wakayama Prefecture discovered a substance similar to tamari soy sauce during the process of making miso. However, the roots of soy sauce can be traced back much further. The process of making a liquid seasoning by fermenting grain malt, meat and alcohol was recorded in ancient China as early as the 12th century BC. Later records indicate the use of soybeans to make a fermented food product during in the Hokugi Period (386-534 AD).

The process described is very similar to the way miso and soy sauce are made today. “Shoyu”, the Japanese name for soy sauce, first came into usage during the Muromachi Period, and the word appears in a dictionary written in the early 1500s. Thus, it can be assumed that during the mid-Muromachi Period soy sauce began its usage as a liquid seasoning. During the Azuchi-Momoyama Period, under the rule of Oda Nobunaga and Toyotomi Hideyoshi, the development of a monetary economy among the merchant and artisan class served as the gateway to the modern era, increasing the circulation of goods. Against this historical background, soy sauce spread quickly among the common people, and demand for the product increased. In response, the first soy sauce factories emerged during the late 16th century and early 17th century. Soy sauce brewing was begun in Yuasa in Wakayama Prefecture and in Choshi and Noda in Chiba Prefecture. In Choshi and Noda, soy sauce brewers’ guilds were founded in 1754 and 1781 respectively, and output steadily increased in both locations thereafter. During the Edo Period (1603-1867), wheat was used to produce a fragrant kind of soy sauce called koikuchi shoyu, perfect for flavoring the fish caught in the Edogawa River, the popularity of which contributed greatly to the culinary culture particular to the era.

Yamasa Shoyu began when the soy sauce manufacturing process used in Yuasa, Wakayama Prefecture, was brought to Choshi in Chiba Prefecture by Gihe Hamaguchi. Upon his arrival in Choshi, Hamaguchi noticed that the climate and water in Choshi created ideal conditions for soy sauce production, that barley and wheat were available close by, and that the Edogawa and Tonegawa Rivers provided the perfect means for shipping the product to the large consumer base in Edo, Japan's capital. He began producing soy sauce in 1645. Since then, Yamasa Shoyu has strived to achieve the best quality in Japan, and in 1864 it was included among seven products honored by the Tokugawa Shogun, under the designation “Best Soy Sauce”.