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

which soybeans are grown. Almost equally amazing was the
large number of native Korean soybean varieties we found
in the various sections and at the experiment stations. At
the Suigen Experiment Station, they have more than one
thousand native Korean varieties and selections under test.
The authorities were very generous and gave us samples
of each. In addition to this collection, we obtained a few
hundred samples from Korean farmers, grain merchants on
village market days and from village and city grain dealers.
The Korean Department of Agriculture added about 300
samples to our collection by obtaining seed of the principal
varieties from the village agricultural societies in each of the
prefectures of Korea.
“Altho the Koreans do not use the soybean as
extensively for food as do the Japanese, considerable
quantities are used and in quite different ways. The beans are
used principally boiled with other grains such as millet or
kaoliang. They are also used in making miso and soy sauce,
but these products are made quite differently from those of
Japan or China. Soybean sprouts are found very abundantly
in all of the markets and at all of the small food stores. The
beans produced in Korea are for the most part excellent
quality and are largely shipped to Japan for the manufacture
of miso, soy sauce, bean curd, and natto. Soybeans when
soaked with chopped millet or kaoliang straw are used
universally for feeding oxen and cows, the common work
animals of Korea.
“We left Korea about the fi rst week of December [1929]
for our Tokyo headquarters and collected seed samples and
products as we went along. From the latter part of December
until the latter part of March, we put in full time collecting
soybean products and learning of their use and manufacture.
We succeeded in collecting a large number of interesting
products, as the Japanese use the soybean very extensively
in their daily diet. In the making of cakes, candies, and
numerous other confections, the roasted soybean is used in
a similar manner to the peanut in America. Of course, soy
sauce, miso, bean curd, and natto are the principal soybean
products and the ones most extensively used. As an example
of the large use of miso, which is used as a breakfast soup
with vegetables and also in preserving fi sh, vegetables, and
meat, we visited three large miso factories in the Tokyo
district and found that each produced about one million
pounds of miso yearly. In addition to these three large
factories, there were numerous small factories scattered
thruout the same district.
“As the planting time was approaching in Manchuria,
we left Tokyo the latter part of March and arrived in Dairen,
Manchuria, the fi rst of April... This country is the real land of
the soybean and Dairen, the real city of the soybean. In 1929,
29.2 percent of the total cultivated area of Manchuria was
devoted to the growing of soybeans, producing more than
178,000,000 bushels of seed, thus leading all other crops in
acreage and production. The Port of Dairen handles about
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 117
eighty (80) percent of the exports of beans, bean cake, and
bean oil.
Note: This is the earliest document seen (Aug. 2011)
that uses the term “land of the soybean” in connection with
or to refer to Manchuria.
“The planting season for soybeans in Manchuria begins
about the fi rst of May and extends to about the 25th of May
in some northern sections. We, therefore, had an opportunity
before the planting season, to study the methods of grading,
storage and transportation of [soy] beans, bean cake and bean
oil in the oil mills. The storage yards and warehouse yards of
the South Manchurian Railway cover several hundred acres
and the immense quantities of bags of beans and bean cakes
stored in the open storage yards and in the warehouses are
well worth seeing...”
“We had rather expected to fi nd a large number of
products made from beans, bean cake, and bean oil but our
fi ndings thus far have been very meager. The oil is used in
the manufacture of soaps, paints, lard substitutes, and salad
oils, but only a very few factories are engaged in producing
these products. The beans are used chiefl y for oil and oil
cake, but during the last three or four years, the demand
of European mills for beans has had a serious effect, not
only on the Dairen soybean oil mills, but also on the oil
mills throughout North and South Manchuria. In Dairen,
at the present time, only about forty-fi ve soybean mills are
active during the crushing season, whereas four years ago
there were about ninety. The oil cakes are for the most part
shipped to the Japanese Islands for feed and fertilizer (chiefl y
fertilizer), to China and the East Indies for fertilizer, and to
America and Europe for cattle and poultry feed.”
“Our experience in the fi eld up to the present time
has been the study of methods of planting and cultivation
practiced in different sections of North and South
Manchuria.”
We have collected quite a large number of seed samples
during our travels thus far in Manchuria and have obtained
some very interesting types. It may interest the members to
know that we have visited Yingkou (Newchwang), the source
of the Virginia and Wilson varieties... At the Kunchuling
Experiment Station, more than one thousand varieties and
selections have been tested but at the present time only fi ve
hundred are under test. The Manchurian varieties do not
succeed in the Japanese Islands or Korea and neither do the
Japanese varieties succeed in Manchuria or Korea...”
“With this letter we are sending some lantern slides
illustrating various scenes of the soybean industry in oriental
countries... With best wishes for a most interesting and
successful 1930 meeting.”
Note 2. This is the earliest English-language document
seen (Feb. 2004) that uses the term “vegetable soybeans”
(not preceded by the word “green”) to refer to green
vegetable soybeans.
Note 2. This letter was reprinted in Soybean Digest