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

the parcel.” See also letter about natto history from Ishige
sensei to Shurtleff, dated 16 March 2008.
Page 225. The right illustration is titled Tofu-shi
(Tofu maker). The text states: Among the craftsmen, tofu
makers rise the earliest each morning. Some sell deep fried
tofu pouches (aburaagé). The book Kuni Hana Manyoki
mentions the places named Maruyama and Reizan where the
craftsmen lived. There may have been a lot of tofu makers
who lived in this area. The illustration shows a tofu maker in
his shop, sitting at the end of a fi rm pole used as a lever press
to press the soymilk out of the okara in the pressing sack
(which is placed on a rack) into the wooden vat below. It will
then be curded to make tofu. Also visible in the tofu shop are
a wooden tofu forming box with 3 holes in each side, and
four hanging noren curtains.
Page 291. The illustration is titled Yaku-harai (Driving
out bad luck). The text mentions setsubun (the evening of
the last day of winter, just before the fi rst day of spring, also
celebrated by some as New Year’s Eve–according to the old
lunar calendar) and roasted soybeans (iri-mamé). On the
evening of setsubun, Japanese wished to be cleansed of all
bad spirits and bad luck. So they scattered roasted soybeans
(with coins?) and cried out a slogan wishing for long life.
This kept them very busy. Note: New Year’s Eve and Day are
not traditional Japanese concepts; they were imported from
China and the West during the 20th century. Address: Japan.
12. Hitomi, Hitsudai. 1695. Pen chao shih chien / Ben
zhao shi jian [A mirror of food in this dynasty. 12 vols.].
Osaka?: Hiranoya Katsuzaemon. 22 cm. Widely referred
to as Honchô Shokkan in Japanese. Modern rendering by
Morohashi 1955, trans. p. 13. Complete modern translation
into Japanese by Isao Shimada (1976; Tokyo: Heibonsha).
[Chi]*
• Summary: This book, written by a Japanese man in Japan,
yet entirely in Chinese, contains early references to yuba,
frozen tofu, natto, shoyu, and miso. When the Japanese read
the Chinese characters for yuba, doufu-lao, they pronounced
them tôfu no uba. Lao or uba means “old woman” or “wet
nurse.”
The book states that the word “natto” is derived from
nassho, meaning “temple kitchen” or literally “place of
offering, perhaps because the food was offered to Buddha
before being offered to the monks.” It also contains the
earliest known written mention of natto’s medicinal or
healing effects, together with recipes for preparing natto
miso soup (natto-jiru).
Note: Recall that this natto-jiru may well be made with
fermented black soybeans rather than itohiki natto.
Saito (1985, p. 15-16) notes: “In 1695 Dr. Hitomi
Hitsudai, a Japanese physician, age 74, writes the Honcho
Skokkan and talks about the good and bad points of daily
foods from his medical viewpoint. The 12 volume book is
written entirely in Chinese. He writes: ‘Soybean: Makes one
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 29
feel calm, relaxes the stomach, and is good for the intestines.
Miso: One should not be without it. Natto: Makes one feel
calm, conditions the stomach, enhances a good appetite, and
detoxifi es poisons. Tofu: Nowadays tofu in Edo is pretty
good. Among the various types, Nishiki-dofu and Kezo-indofu
are famous... But it cannot compete with the tofu made
in Kyoto. Shoyu: Inactivates any poisoning from eating food,
drinking alcohol, or taking medicine.’ The above is taken
from the translation into Japanese by Shimada Isao.”
T. Yokotsuka (1985, p. 206; 1986, p. 198) cites this as
Honcho Shokukan (1692) but apparently does not cite it in
his bibliography in either case.
Needham (1986, p. 581) cites this as Pên Ts’ao Shih
Chien (Materia Medica in Tasteful Verse, by Chu Lun).
Ch’ing dynasty. 1739. Partly translated by Swingle. But
Needham does not discuss its content.
Fukushima (1989, p. 9) states that the Honcho-Shokkan
(Hitomi, 1695) describes miso and shoyu.
Iino (2003, p. 8) states: “In the fi rst half of the Edo
Period (17th century), soy sauce was made in all regions of
Japan and could be purchased anywhere. In addition, soy
sauce was made by hand in the large majority of houses”–
This is made clear by this references in this 1695 book,
which also mentions the shoyu production process, noting
that barley was used in place of wheat. On p. 9 Iino adds
that detailed instructions for making niban shoyu (soy sauce
from a second pressing of the moromi with salt water) are
also described in this book. Iino then comments: “It is clear
that with the beginning of soy sauce production, use was also
made of the dregs [shoyu presscake] to make niban shoyu.”
13. Saito, Akio. 1699. [Chronology of soybeans in Japan,
1600 to 1699, the early Tokugawa/Edo period] (Document
part). In: Akio Saito. 1985. Daizu Geppo (Soybean Monthly
News). Jan. p. 14-16. [Jap; eng+]
• Summary: 1600–Komakabe?, the name of a type of
tofu, appears in the Diary of Oyudono no Kami (Oyudono
Kami no Nikki). The very fi rm tofu called kata-dofu that is
presently sold in Kochi prefecture (on the southern part of
the island of Shikoku) originated from Komakabe.
1601–Daté Masamune (DAH-tay Mah-sah-MU-nay;
lived 1567-1636) of Sendai establishes the Goenso-gura and
starts making miso. This is the fi rst time that an organized
method has ever been used to make miso in Japan. The
purpose of this is to make miso for the army and to store salt.
According to some theories, the date was 1645 rather than
1601.
1603–In Nippo Jisho, a Japanese-Portuguese dictionary,
tofu (called “taufu”) is mentioned. It says that tofu is a food
that is made from powdered / ground beans and that looks
like freshly made cheese.
1605–Tokugawa Ieyasu commands the monks at
Daifukuji temple to make Hamana Natto. Note 1. This is the
earliest document seen (Nov. 2011) that mentions “Hamana