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

of the FAO/WHO/UNICEF/Protein-rich food program.
“The First International Conference sponsored by FAO,
WHO and Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation (New York) held
in Jamaica in 1953, discussed the biological, technical
and pathological aspects of protein malnutrition. The next
Conference on ‘Human protein requirements and their
fulfi llments in practice’ held in Princeton in 1955 under the
same sponsorship, gave detailed consideration to the testing
of new protein rich foods before their use in child feeding
was recommended.
“The Protein Advisory Group (PAG) was established
by the Director-General of WHO in 1955 to ‘act on behalf
of WHO in rendering advice to FAO and UNICEF on the
safety and suitability for human consumption of proposed
new protein-rich foods.’ The PAG... became a tripartite FAO/
WHO/UNICEF Protein Advisory Group in 1961.”
Soybean milk: “In 1939, K.S. Lo established a fi rm
known as ‘Hong Kong Soyabean Products’ to produce
sterilized bottled soya milk. The two plants of the fi rm in
Hong Kong produce 12,000 cases (24 x 7-oz. bottles per
case) a day.”
Also discusses miso, natto, tempeh, full-fat soya fl our,
soya presscake and meal, groundnut protein isolate. Address:
Regional Offi ce for Asia and Far East, FAO, Bangkok,
Thailand.
486. Kamada, H.; Ebine, H.; Nakano, M. 1965. Nattô to miso
genryo toshite no daizu hinshitsu no hantei-hô [Evaluation
method of the quality of soybean employed for natto and
miso manufacturing]. Nippon Jozo Kyokai Zasshi (J. of the
Society of Brewing, Japan) 60(7):620-23. July. [8 ref. Jap]
Address: 1. Karepisu [Calpis] Shokuhin Kenkyujo.
487. Shibamoto, G. 1965. [Experimental studies on the
nutritive effect of natto. III]. Tokyo Ika Daigaku Zasshi (J. of
Tokyo Medical College) 23:367-70. [Jap]*
488. Arimoto, Kinitaro; Sakurai, Yoshito. 1965. Food and
nutrition in Japan. In: Martin S. Peterson and Donald K.
Tressler, eds. 1965. Food Technology the World Over. Vol. II.
South America, Africa and the Middle East, Asia. Westport,
Connecticut: AVI Publishing Co., Inc. ix + 414 p. See p. 359-
94. Illust. Index. 24 cm. [13 ref]
• Summary: This chapter, after the Introduction, is divided
into two parts: 1, titled “Nutrition (p. 360-74)” by Arimoto,
and 2, titled “Food technology” (p. 374-94)” by Yosito
[Yoshito] Sakurai. In Part 1, table 110, “Food supply in
Japan” includes average statistics on soybeans, miso, and
shoyu in kg/year and gm/day for 1944-1948, 1961, and
1961. in kg/year for the three periods: Soybeans: 3.5, 5.4,
and 5.0. Miso: 10.6, 8.1, and 7.7. Shoyu: 15.9, 13.0, and
11.1. Source: Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Balance
Sheets. Surprisingly, supplies were greater for each during
and immediately after World War II than in the early 1960s.
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 170
Table 116, “Intake of foods classifi ed into food groups
and type of work (gm per capita per day), 1963” gives
statistics for the entire nation, agricultural households, and
non-agricultural households, as follows: Soybeans: 1.3,
1.7, 1.0. Miso: 25.1, 30.1, 22.5. Soybean products: 37.3,
29.9, 41.5. Seaweeds: 4.6, 4.2, 4.7. Shoyu: 26.2, 30.0, 23.6.
Soybean products as a source of high quality protein are
discussed (p. 366).
Part 2 begins with a section on “Rice” (p. 374-77) which
notes that rice supplies half the calories in the Japanese diet.
Japan produces all of the rice it needs–about 13 million tons.
Imported rice (about 150,000 tons) is used only as a raw
material in confections and miso. Japan imports most of its
soybean from the USA and China, and these soybeans are
processed by characteristically Japanese methods to make
tofu, miso, and shoyu (p. 377).
Animal husbandry is not widely practiced in Japan,
largely because the land is hilly with few grazing lands. Thus
most beef, pork, and chicken are imported. The production
of cow’s milk is gradually increasing; it is now 27 million
hectoliters.
Packaging of foods has changed greatly during the
past decade. Packaged foods are now common. Shoyu and
miso, once sold by the measure, are now sold in bottles and
plastic bags, respectively. Table 128 (p. 378), titled “Supply
of raw materials and food consumption of their products in
1959 (Japan)” shows the following for soybeans (in metric
tons = tonnes). Soybeans–Domestic supply: 410,000 tonnes.
Imports: 1,000,000 tonnes. Miso consumption: 850,000
tonnes. Shoyu: 1,280,000 tonnes. Tofu: 640,000 tonnes.
Aburaage 170,000 tonnes. Natto 60,000 tonnes. Meat
330,000 tonnes. Fishery products: 6,170,000 tonnes.
The section titled “Soybeans” (p. 380-86) has the
following contents: Introduction. Miso, shoyu, natto, tofu,
koritofu (dried tofu) [dried-frozen tofu], yuba. Photos show:
(1) Shoyu brewing in tanks in a large factory. (2) Pressing
and washing of tofu in koritofu manufacture in a large,
modern factory. (3) Aerial view of a large, modern plant for
koritofu production. (4) The thawing operation in making
koritofu. (5) The drying operation in making koritofu.
Address: 1. PhD, Director, National Inst. of Nutrition, Tokyo,
Japan; 2. PhD, Prof., Dep. of Agricultural Chemistry, Faculty
of Agriculture, Tokyo Univ., Tokyo, Japan.
489. Brandemuhl, William. 1965. Soybean utilization in
Japan. San Francisco, California. xxii + 478 p. Unpublished
manuscript. 28 cm. [189 ref]
• Summary: A superb, in-depth, pioneering study, based
on extensive original fi eld research in Japan. It is carefully
documented with hundreds of original interviews and
published sources properly cited in two different lists of
sources (numerical and alphabetical) Contains 30 tables and
190 excellent photos–including 7 of the author.
Table of contents: Preface. Notes. List of tables. List