It is considered that every country has its own smell. You can feel smell of cheese in France, the smell of garlic in Korea, in Germany you may feel the smell of Frankfurt sausages, but in Japan you always fell smell of soy sauce. Shoyu is the irreplaceable seasoning in Japanese meal.

The manufacturing of shoyu has put on the industrial basis in the Muromachi period (1333 - 1575 years). It was manufactured in Harima (Hyogo prefecture ) and in Senshu (the south of Osaka prefecture). In the beginning of the Edo period (1603 - 1868 years) the fishermen from the village called Yuasa have moved to Ava and have begun to manufacture shoyu there. They were fishing iwashi to earn money for the new business. From the second part of the Edo period, in Kanto, the manufacture of dark soy sauce has developed greatly. Noda and Choshi (Tiba prefecture) were the main centers of manufacturing. Until this time the sort of usual soy sauce tamari has been famous.

Transparent shoyu of amber color. It is manufactured in Aichi and Tiba prefectures. It takes 0,6% of the general manufacture.

Raw materials are wheat and little amount of soybeans. The maturing is very fast. The clear taste and strong aroma are the main features. As wheat is the main raw material, this type of shoyu is rich with sugar.

Utilization: broth for noodles, soups, dishes in pan. It is also used in those dishes, where you want to point out their color and taste (vegetable and fish dishes).

Tamari-shoyu

Tamari-shoyu

It has dark color. It is quite dense with sated taste. It is manufactured in Aichi, Mie, Gifu and Tokai prefectures. It takes 1,8% of the general manufacture.

Raw materials are soybeans and wheat.

Utilization: tsukudani (a small fish or mollusks boiled in soy sauce), sembei cookies. It is also the sauce for sashimi.

This is the usual soy sauce. It is manufactured in Kanto. Now tall around Japan manufactures this sauce. It takes 80% of the general manufacture.

Raw material - 50% soybeans, 50% wheat, salt. Salinity is 16-18%.

Utilization: soy sauces for cooking boiled dishes and for the sauce mixed with chips of dried bonita.

To make the color more pale, different ways are applied: increase in salinity and density, delay of fermentation, processing with fire with the lowest temperature. In the end sweet sake is added. It has weak aroma. It used to be manufactured in Tokino (Hyogo prefecture). Now it is manufactured all around Japan. It takes 15% of the general manufacture.

Raw materials are the same with koikuchi-shoyu, but the salinity is much higher (about 19%). It is irreplaceable for dishes of Kansai. It is eaten with white fish meat and with vegetable dishes.

Saishikomi-shoyu is more fragrant than tamari-shoyu. Yanagii (Yamaguchi prefecture) used to be the only place of manufacturing saishikomi-shoyu. It is manufactured now in Kyushu and in Sanyin. It takes 0,7% of the general manufacture.

Raw materials are the same with koikuchi-shoyu, but for the end of processing fresh soy sauce is used instead of salty water.

Utilization: saishikomi-shoyu is also called kanro-shoyu, that means "as nectar". It is eaten with sushi and sashimi.

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