History of Natto and Its Relatives (1405-2012 - SoyInfo Center

Kultur und volkswirtschaftliche Bedeutung. II. Teil:
Oelpfl anzen [Tropical and subtropical plants in international
commerce; their history, cultivation, and economic
signifi cance. Vol. II. Oilseeds]. Stuttgart: Verlag von
Ferdinand Enke. See vol. 2, p. 128-70. Illust. Index. 25 cm.
[48 ref. Ger]
• Summary: The soybean (p. 128-70). Contents:
Introduction. Name, place of origin and history. Description
of the plant: Systematic, morphology, varieties, selection.
General conditions for growth: Climate, soil. Cultivation of
the plant: Planting, care. Harvest and storage. Composition
and products. Utilization: As a fodder plant, as a coffee
substitute, industrial non-food uses, as a food (as a green
vegetable, soy sprouts, soy chocolate, soymilk, casein, tofu
and soybean quark {tofu oder Sojabohnenquark}, natto
{Buddhistenkäse}, hamananatto, yuba, miso, shoyu or soy
sauce {Sojasauce}). Production and trade.
Concerning green vegetable soybeans, the author
states: “Three-quarter ripe soybean seeds yield a good,
green vegetable (Dreiviertelreife Sojabohnen geben ein
gutes, gruenes Gemuese).” Address: PhD, Titularprofessor
an der Eidgenoessischen Technischen Hochschule, Zurich,
Switzerland.
202. Morse, W.J. 1930. Re: Soybean products collected. Trip
to Manchuria and China. Letter to Dr. E.A. Hollowell, Offi ce
of Forage Crops, USDA, Washington, DC, Jan. 12. 2 p.
Typed, with signature on USDA letterhead.
• Summary: “Dear Holly: I have your letter of December 16
with reference to the soybean products and the more I collect
over here the less inclined I am to loan them out... In my last
such experience, I fi tted up a soybean product exhibit for
some sort of health food show in New York City and I never
did get it back although we had considerable correspondence
about it. As I recall I even took it up with the Secretary [of
Agriculture] because they wanted it for a permanent exhibit
and so I was out a nice exhibit which it took me considerable
time to get up. After that I would not let anything go out
unless I had several products of the same kind but it cured
me of fi xing up exhibits for any one or letting out products or
pictures that I could not easily duplicate.
“Therefore, even with Dr. Burlison I do not know of any
of the products we have in the offi ce that I care to let out...”
“Last week we visited a large soy sauce factory [almost
certainly Kikkoman] at Noda-Machi, about a three hours’
run from Tokio... They use twenty thousands of bushels of
soybeans annually and the same amount of wheat.”
“I was rather anxious about the work but as you state if
the Arlington [Farm in Virginia] work can be arranged, you
and Lee can hold things until I return. I think that this can be
arranged so that Lee will not be over-loaded with the work
now on hand and the new introductions we are sending in...
“Dorsett is making pictures of the various [soybean]
products as they are collected and making pictures that can
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 116
not be beat.
“The beancurd, miso and natto factories are mighty
interesting and we are getting lots of good data and pictures
as well as samples of the varieties of beans used. The
beancurd factories are only small places but they are very
numerous and each has its own way of making the curd.”
Location: National Archives, College Park, Maryland.
Record group 54–Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils and
Agricultural Engineering. Subgroup–Div. of Forage Crops
and Diseases. Series–General Correspondence, 1905-29. Box
93–Morse-Napier. Folder–Morse, W.J.-#4 F.C.I.
Sent to Soyfoods Center by Jacob Jones of Purdue
Univ., Aug. 1998. Address: Tokio, Japan.
203. Hanzawa, Jun; Tamura, Y. 1930. Nattô seisei-kin ni
kansuru kenkyû. V. Chissogen to no kankei [Research on
natto bacteria. V. Seen as a source of nitrogen]. Nihon Nogei
Kagakkai Shi (J. of the Agricultural Chemical Society of
Japan) 6(8):751-53. Aug. [Jap]
Address: Hokudai Nôgaku-bu.
204. Morse, W.J. 1930. Soybeans in the Orient. Proceedings
of the American Soybean Association 3:96-100. Eleventh
annual fi eld meeting. Held 10-12 Sept. 1930 in Illinois.
• Summary: This letter (which appears on pages 5196 to
5199 of the unpublished Dorsett-Morse Log) was written by
William Morse on 20 July 1930 from Dairen, Manchuria,
to Dr. W.L. Burlison, President of the American Soybean
Growers Assoc. at the University of Illinois. It describes the
travels of Dorsett and Morse as agricultural explorers for
the USDA, studying soybeans and soyfoods, in Manchuria,
Japan (Hokkaido and Tokyo), and Korea (Seoul).
“It is recalled that last season the use of the soybean as
a green vegetable was described. Throughout the season, it
was found that the green vegetable was a very popular food
with the Japanese from one end of the Japanese Empire
to the other. The vegetable soybean is classed as a garden
bean and as such is extensively grown by the Japanese truck
farmers.”
The authors were in Hokkaido from mid-August until
early October, and they visited all the principal soybean
sections. “The Obihiro station in the eastern part of the
island [of Hokkaido] is conducting the most extensive work
in breeding and variety testing. We succeeded in collecting
a very large number of varieties and selections of this
northern region as well as information on culture, harvesting,
threshing, insect pests, and diseases. To supplement this
material, we obtained a large number of still and motion
pictures of very interesting scenes of the Hokkaido soybean
industry.”
They arrived in Korea on 20 Oct. 1929 and established
headquarters at Keijo (Seoul). “We found Korea to be a most
interesting country and different from anything we had seen
in Japan. One of the most amazing things was the extent to