History of Shoyu

Nowadays, shoyu or soy sauce is a product that can be found in the pantry of many households, in the hands of many cooks and certainly on many plates. It is perhaps the most well-known Japanese food ingredient and one that most people outside Japan consider essential to the flavour of Japanese dishes. Of course, it was not always so well known and widespread, there was a time when it was not known in the western world. Let’s take a look at the beginnings and how things changed for this fantastic spice, which is an important part of Japanese cuisine and dishes all over the world.

Before we take a look at the story, let’s take a quick look at what shoyu actually is. Shoyu is a brownish-black ingredient, a koji (malt) made from soya beans and wheat, which is obtained by fermenting and maturing salt water. It is an essential ingredient in Japanese cuisine, and the use of shoyu deepens and enhances the flavour. There are five different types of shoyu, including “Koi kuchi (strong flavour)” and “Usu kuchi (weak flavour)”.

The five different species are: Koi kuchi Shoyu, Usu kuchi Shoyu, Tamari Shoyu, Sai Shikomi Shoyu and Shiro Shoyu.

Typical shoyu varieties that are generally found in supermarkets are the two shoyu varieties “Koi kuchi” and “Usu kuchi”. There is also “Sashimi Shoyu”, which is slightly different. This type of shoyu is used for eating sashimi (raw fish fillets) and has a smoother and rounder flavour.

The origin of shoyu in Japan is in Kansai in a district called Yuasa in the Kishuu region. There are records that a manufacturer called “Tamai Hishio” started the shoyu business in Yuasa around 1580. Eight years later, in 1588, around 18,000 litres of tamari shoyu are said to have been delivered from Yuasa to Osaka. We should be grateful to the person who recorded this information, because it is very interesting for us today in 2014. On the other hand, shoyu was not yet produced in the Kanto region at that time. Shoyu was therefore called “Kudari Shoyu” as it was sent up from Kansai. It was considered a precious and rare ingredient.