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

344. Hayashi, Shizuka. 1957. Manufacture of natto is
described. Soybean Digest. March. p. 30-31.
• Summary: Contents: Introduction. Screening selection
(cleaning by removing foreign substances). Washing. Water
soaking. Steam cooking. Implanting natto bacillus (Bacillus
natto). Packing (into kyogi–thin, slice-cut veneers of wood;
0.331 lb of inoculated beans becomes 0.273 lb of natto).
Placing in curing room (9 feet wide, 7 feet tall, and 9 feet
from front to back. Heated by charcoal and kept at 42-
43ºC). Removal from curing room. Value of natto. A fl ow
diagram shows the main steps in the process. The chemical
composition of natto is given. “It is reported that natto
bacillus suppresses the multiplication of various diseasecausing
bacteria within the digestive organs.” Natto keeps
(without refrigeration) for 2-3 days in summer, 7-10 days
in winter. Address: Managing Director, Japanese-American
Soybean Inst., Tokyo, Japan.
345. Chung, T.S.; Kim, C.J.; Hwang, K.S. 1957.
[Enzymological studies of the fermented soybean products.
IV. Amino acid composition of natto proteins]. Seoul, Korea.
[Kor]*
• Summary: Mimeographed. Address: The Scientifi c
Research Institute M.N.D. Korea, Seoul, Korea.
346. Kohono, C. 1957. [Studies on the protein digestion of
natto (III)]. Mukogawa Gakuin Joshi Daigaku Kiyo. Seikatsu
Kagaku-hen (Scientifi c Reports of Mukogawa Women’s
Univ.–Domestic Science Series) 5:281-87. [Jap]*
• Summary: 2008 Aug. 12. WRS e-mailed www.nodai.ac.jp/
english/... = Tokyo University of Agriculture.
The one I’ve been to is University Library for
Agricultural and Life Sciences at 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-8657.
347. Kohono, C. 1957. Studies on the protein digestion of
natto (II). Mukogawa Gakuin Joshi Daigaku Kiyo. Seikatsu
Kagaku-hen (Scientifi c Reports of Mukogawa Women’s
Univ.–Domestic Science Series) 5:133-39. [Jap]*
• Summary: 2008 Aug. 12. WRS e-mailed www.nodai.ac.jp/
english/... = Tokyo University of Agriculture.
The one I’ve been to is University Library for
Agricultural and Life Sciences at 1-1-1 Yayoi, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo 113-8657.
348. Miyamoto, Kazuo. 1957. A nisei discovers Japan.
Tokyo: Japan Times. [x] + 282 + [4] p. See p. 181. Illust.
Port. No index. 20 cm.
• Summary: The author, a physician and American citizen,
lived with his wife and two children for two years in Japan
between 1937 and 1939 “just after the beginning of the
China Incident.” He spoke and wrote Japanese fl uently.
Page 7: On 29 Sept. 1937, after just arriving in Japan,
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 146
they enter Tokyo. He notes that prices are high, protein
consumption is therefore insuffi cient, and the general
population seems undernourished. Beans, including soya
beans, ought to be used more extensively. Except for
misoshiru [miso soup] and natto, they are apparently not
widely used. He suggests that the government welfare
department develop and publish soy recipes for the health of
the people.
Page 48: On 8 Feb. 1938 on a trip into Yusawa, Niigata,
in northeastern Japan, he went skiing. For lunch at a inn he
had “natto with lots of onions to erase the odor.”
On a train from Ueno station, Tokyo, he has breakfast
in the diner of miso-shiru [miso soup], tsukemono [pickled
vegetables], and rice for 25 sen.
Page 129: In Aomori at the hotel for breakfast they
enjoy delicious eggplant fried in butter with shoyu, pepper,
and pieces of chiso [beefsteak leaves].
Page 171: At Aoyama hot springs in Hokkaido, caught
in a blizzard, he has a bento [Japanese box lunch] from the
hotel that includes miso-shiru.
Page 181: On 21 March 1938 they are at the port of
Shimonoseki, Japan (in southwestern Honshu, just north
of Kyushu, in Yamaguchi prefecture, facing the Tsushima
Strait). He notes that many people pass through this port on
their way to Chosen [Korea] and Manchukuo [Manchuria].
Shimonoseki is known for its fugu or balloonfi sh (also
called globefi sh or swellfi sh) for it is here that the largest
catch in Japan is taken each year.
They found an eating place, Fujitomo, that served the
delicacy. The raw sliced meat was arranged on a huge platter
in three rows of semi-circles, so thinly sliced that it was
transparent. “The above were dipped in a sauce prepared
with murasaki, lime and onions. Tai, considered the king of
fi shes, must be allotted second place to this delicacy...”
Note 1. The word “murasaki” means purple in Japanese,
and is still used in sushi shops and other specialty eating
places to refer to soy sauce.
Note 2: This is the earliest English-language document
seen (March 2008) that uses the word “murasaki” to refer to
soy sauce.
The balloonfi sh is so poisonous it can kill a person; the
toxin is contained in its ovaries. “At Shimonoseki, the season
comes to an end at the end of March for then the spawning
season begins and the danger of poisoning becomes greater.”
Page 201: On a trip to Korea he enjoys manul zany,
garlic pickled in shoyu.
In April 1955, the family returned to Japan to visit
new relatives. Near Furukawa, in northeastern Japan, they
inspected a “miso and shoyu factory.”
Also discusses: Nori (p. 128). Wakame (seaweed, near
Idzu / Izu) (p. 276). Address: Honolulu, Hawaii.
349. Black, H. 1958. Die Sojabohne–Ein
Hauptnahrungsmittel der Zukunft [The soybean–A major