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

the duke (tze) of Huainan. So all of these people are one and
the same person.
“Tofu was introduced into Japan from Korea for the fi rst
time during the Toyotomi government (Horvath, p. 73) and
was undoubtedly introduced into Japan from China by the
Buddhists (Piper & Morse, p. 234) being used for their daily
food before it was generally used (Horvath, p. 73).
“The true Buddhist monk was carried through the period
of childhood growth on a rather heavy diet of bean curd
(Horvath, p. 17). Even the naming of soybean curd has its
esoteric connotations as the Classical Chinese name for tofu
is Li chi which probably means morning prayer (Horvath, p.
72).
“Natto, a sort of vegetable cheese prepared from
soybeans has long been used by the Buddhists and is now
used extensively by the Japanese (Piper & Morse, p. 224).
“Buddhism seems to have been a major reason for the
development of Japan for main soybean products. With
the existence of these products Japan opened the world
to soybeans.” Address: Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison,
Wisconsin.
445. McEachern, Margaret. 1963. Symphony of sounds tells
time in Tokyo: Centuries-old street calls. Christian Science
Monitor. May 25. p. 15.
• Summary: Tokyo–The Japanese housewife doesn’t need a
clock to tell the time of day. She only needs to listen to the
distinctive calls from her street.
“The day begins with the call, ‘Natto... natto...’ in a high
youthful voice.” That is the sound of a teen-age boy making
his rounds as he sells his fermented [soy] beans–a little
delicacy that is tasty and nourishing. Japanese housewives
use natto in soup, seasoned with soy sauce, served over rice.
The Japanese may be the only people who enjoy soup in
the morning. This soup, called misoshiru, “consists of ‘miso,’
or fermented bean soup [sic, fermented soybean paste] with
vegetables and fi sh.”
In the late afternoon one hears the eerie sound of the
[soy] bean-curd seller. He carries his produce in wooden
buckets attached to both ends of a long bamboo pole.
Note: The writer is apparently unaware that natto, miso,
and tofu are each made of soybeans–for that word does not
appear in the article. A photo shows a housewife shopping in
Tokyo.
446. Fujii, Hisao. 1963. Nattô-kin ni yoru nenshitsu-butsu no
seisei ni kansuru kenkyû. II. Nenshutsu-butsu seisei jôken no
kentô (2) [On the formation of mucilage by Bacillus natto.
II. Factors affecting the formation of mucilage (2)]. Nihon
Nogei Kagakkai Shi (J. of the Agricultural Chemical Society
of Japan) 37(6):346-50. June (Chem. Abst. 63:3338). [9 ref.
Jap]
Address: Faculty of Home Life Science, Fukuoka Women’s
Univ., Fukuoka, Japan.
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 162
447. Fujii, Hisao. 1963. Nattô-kin ni yoru nenshitsu-butsu no
seisei ni kansuru kenkyû. III. Itohiki nattô no nenshitsu-butsu
ni tsuite (1) [On the formation of mucilage by Bacillus natto.
III. Chemical constituents of mucilage in natto (1)]. Nihon
Nogei Kagakkai Shi (J. of the Agricultural Chemical Society
of Japan) 37(7):407-11. July (Chem. Abst. 63:3338). [22 ref.
Jap]
Address: Faculty of Home Life Science, Fukuoka Women’s
Univ., Fukuoka, Japan.
448. Smith, Allan K. 1963. Foreign uses of soybean protein
foods. Cereal Science Today 8(6):196, 198, 200, 210. July.
[28 ref]
• Summary: Contents: Introduction (world food shortages).
Technological assistance (by NRRL). Oriental traditional
foods: Tofu, shoyu or soy sauce, miso or soy paste,
monosodium glutamate, natto and kinako, soy beverage,
tempeh (tempe). Recent food developments. Address:
NRRL, Peoria, Illinois.
449. Fujii, Hisao. 1963. Nattô-kin ni yoru nenshitsu-butsu no
seisei ni kansuru kenkyû. IV. Itohiki nattô no nenshitsu-butsu
ni tsuite (2) [On the formation of mucilage by Bacillus natto.
IV. Chemical constituents of mucilage in natto (2)]. Nihon
Nogei Kagakkai Shi (J. of the Agricultural Chemical Society
of Japan) 37(8):474-77. Aug. (Chem. Abst. 63:3339). [11 ref.
Jap]
Address: Faculty of Home Life Science, Fukuoka Women’s
Univ., Fukuoka, Japan.
450. Aoki, Hatsuo; Saito, Huiga; Ikeda, Yonosuke. 1963.
Transduction and transformation between Bacillus subtilis
and Bacillus natto. J. of General and Applied Microbiology
(Tokyo) 9(3):305-11. Sept. [9 ref]
• Summary: Seven strains of Bacillus natto were all found
to be vulnerable to phage S-1, while fi ve among them were
able to transfer their genetic traits to Bacillus subtilis by
the phage. Address: Inst. of Applied Microbiology, Univ. of
Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, Japan.
451. Fujii, Hisao. 1963. Nattôkin ni yoru nenshitsu-butsu
no seisei ni kansuru kenkyû. V. Nenshitsu-butsu sosei ni
oyobosu baiyô jôken no eikyô [On the formation of mucilage
by Bacillus natto. V. Effects of some cultural conditions
on the chemical constituents of mucilage]. Nihon Nogei
Kagakkai Shi (J. of the Agricultural Chemical Society of
Japan) 37(10):615-18. Oct. (Chem. Abst. 63:12021). [10 ref.
Jap]
Address: Faculty of Home Life Science, Fukuoka Women’s
Univ., Fukuoka, Japan.
452. Fujii, Hisao. 1963. Nattô-kin ni yoru nenshitsu-butsu
no seisei ni kansuru kenkyû. VI. Nenshitsu-butsu seisei no