Experience the Shoyu (Soy Sauce) Making
Overview
Visit an authentic working traditional soy sauce brewery and tour the facilities to learn how Japanese soy sauce is brewed. On this special factory tour, you will also experience pressing soy sauce and get to taste the soy sauce you press.
Highlights
- Chat with a fifth-generation soy sauce brewer
- Learn how Japanese soy sauce is brewed
- Deepen your knowledge of soy sauce
- Sample soy sauce you have pressed yourself on tofu etc. and take it home
Key Information
Important Information
• To protect the brewery's koji (mold vital in soy sauce production) do not eat natto before the tour • Standard tours require at least 2 participants • Special one-person private tours are available • Guide-interpreters available one of these languages: English and Chinese. • Please choose your preferred language at the time of booking
Description
Deepen your knowledge of soy sauce, a key condiment in Japanese food culture. On this factory tour, you will learn how soy sauce is made, and experience pressing soy sauce as it has been done for over 100 years at this traditional soy sauce brewery specializing in Hokkaido soy sauce.
Meijiya Shoyu was established in 1875, the eighth year of the Meiji era (1868 – 1912). This family-run brewery continues to produce soy sauce using traditional methods and closely guarded techniques passed down through five generations.
Soy sauce is made by pressing the 'moromi' (fermentation mash)—a matured mixture of koji fungus and salt water—while controlling the temperature of the mash throughout the year for shipping within six months.
Traditional soy sauce brewing requires waiting for the moromi to mature through the heat of the summer and cold of the winter. Then carefully filtering the resulting soy sauce from the moromi that has matured between 18 – 36 months. This process determines the flavor and richness of the soy sauce.
