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

(both line drawings and simple brush paintings) clarify and
enhance the text throughout.
In 1987 this book was re-issued with a new title: The
Heart of Zen Cuisine: A 600-year Tradition of Vegetarian
Cookery. Address: 1. Abbess, Sanko-in Zen temple, Honcho
3-1-36, Koganei-shi, West Tokyo (Musashi Koganei Station).
942. Sheraton, Mimi. 1983. Restaurants: Japanese fare for
theater nights. New York Times. Jan. 14. p. C18.
• Summary: This is a review of Sushiko, a Japanese
restaurant at 231 West 55th St., between Broadway and
Eighth Ave. in New York City. They sell: “fried half-eggplant
mellowed with miso sauce, topped with sesame seeds;
soybean cakes [tofu] in seaweed soup with vegetables;
oshitashi [o-shitashi, o-hitashi], a salad of marinated spinach
with soy sauce and crunchy fl akes of dried bonito, and natto,
winy, fermented soybeans in an egg and scallion sauce.”
And “zaru soba, cold buckwheat noodles with soy sauce,
horseradish and scallions were refreshing.” “Broiled fi sh,
meats and poultry, done teriyaki-style are stringy and less
interesting...”
943. Pantry Supermarkets. 1983. Buy one, get one free!
(Ad). Los Angeles Times. Jan. 20. p. SG3.
• Summary: The section titled “Oriental foods” states:
“Hinode shirataki (yam noodles) 9 oz.–50¢. Hinode natto
(steamed soybeans) 5 oz.–49¢. Hinode Japanese tofu 19 oz.–
59¢.” Address: Los Angeles Co. and southern California.
944. Leonard, Thom. 1983. Pioneering work with miso in
America (Interview). SoyaScan Notes. Feb. 12. Conducted
by William Shurtleff of Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: In the fall of 1974, Thom Leonard made his
fi rst batch of barley koji and barley miso using a recipe
in Herman Aihara’s new book titled Soybean Diet. The
80-pound batch of miso was aged in a soy sauce keg from
Hong Kong. He then made 80-pound batches of chunky
wheat miso in the fall of 1975 (he later pickled tofu in it) and
of barley miso in early 1976. After moving to Fayetteville,
Arkansas, he and Jim Hemminger made larger scale miso
equipment and on 15 April 1977 packed their fi rst 35-gallon
cedar vat with brown-rice miso. Soon over 1,000 lb were
aging in the vats. This miso was sold to and distributed by
the Ozark Cooperative Warehouse.
Thom and Richard Kluding founded the fi rst Caucasianrun
miso company in North America, Ohio Miso Co. in
Monroeville, Ohio. They began production on 13 March
1979. By Jan. 1980 Ohio Miso was making several varieties
of miso: brown rice, barley (one or two year), mellow brown
rice, mellow red, and black soybean; output was 2,400 lb/
week.
Then in the spring of 1980 Leonard and Kluding split
up, largely because of interpersonal problems. In the summer
of 1980 Leonard taught miso classes at the macrobiotic
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 305
Spiral Inn and Moniteau Farm in Missouri. Then in late
1980 he taught 2 classes on making miso, natto, tofu, and
tempeh at the Kushi Institute in Boston, Massachusetts,
with 30-40 people per class. In 1981 and 1982 he taught 8
similar classes out of his home in Boston, plus four 3-day
residential workshops on the same subjects. All were sold out
every time. In 1983 he plans to travel Ireland to start a miso
plant in County Kilkenny. Friends of his own several old
buildings. The Irish government will help pay startup costs,
covering 45% of the required startup capital plus 25% of the
rent for the fi rst 5 years. He hopes to start in July 1983 and
be producing miso by late 1983. He hopes to make 100,000
to 200,000 pounds of mostly barley miso, both mellow
barley and 12-24 month barley miso. Thom’s constitution is
so yang that he can’t eat much miso–which is also very yang.
But this week he enjoyed miso soup twice, which is more
than he has had for the past year.
Note: Thom and his wife went to Ireland but they never
started a miso plant or commercial miso production there.
Address: Brookline, Massachusetts.
945. Ebine, Hideo. 1983. Re: Dipicolinic acid and retirement
from the National Foods Research Institute, Japan. Letter to
William Shurtleff at Soyfoods Center, Feb. 22. 1 p. Typed,
with signature. [Eng]
• Summary: Note: The Book of Miso, by Shurtleff and
Aoyagi (1976) states (p. 26): “In 1972, a number of Japanese
scientists doing agricultural research stimulated by Dr.
[Shinichiro] Akizuki’s writings discovered a substance in
miso which they called Zybicolin. Produced by miso and
natto yeasts, it has the ability to attract, absorb, and discharge
from the body radioactive elements such as strontium. The
discovery received front-page coverage in all of Japan’s
major newspapers.” Yet Shurtleff never cited the actual
article–in part because he learned of it just as The Book of
Miso was about to go to press.
Director Ebine has tried to locate the article mentioned
above but has not been able to fi nd it–and he has never heard
of it, although he has long been a miso research scientist.
Zybicolin is probably “dipicolinic acid,” which is found in
miso and natto, and which has a strong combining activity to
minerals including radioactive minerals such as strontium.
Ebine retired from the National Food Research Institute
(NFRI) in March 1982 and immediately (in April 1982)
began his present work as director of the Central Miso
Research Institute. Address: Director, Central Miso Research
Inst., Shinkawa 1-24-19, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 104, Japan.
946. Abiose, Sumbo. 1983. Re: Soy ogi and other soyfoods
in Nigeria. Letter to William Shurtleff at Soyfoods Center,
Feb. 23–in reply to inquiry. 1 p. Typed, with signature on
letterhead.
• Summary: Soy-ogi is not yet on the market as a
commercial product, according to the Federal Inst. of