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

fi ber (the outer hull). Soy protein products: Defatted soy
fl ours, soy isolates, soy concentrates. Isofl avones (incl.
Genistein). Soybeans, the “All American” legume. For more
information call 1-800-Talk-Soy.
Note: This brochure was developed for USB by the
Evans Group in Seattle, Washington. It was mailed mostly
to dietitians, nutritionists, and members of the food industry.
It focused more on soy oil than on soy protein. Address: St.
Louis, Missouri.
1463. Toyo Shinpo (Soyfoods News).1994. Ibaraki no shin
meisan-hin. Nattô senbei. Ibaraki-ken Kôgyô Gijutsu
Sentaa [New product from Ibaraki prefecture. Natto senbei
(crackers) from the The Ibaraki Prefectural Industrial
Technology Center]. Feb. 2. p. 7. [Jap]
1464. Toyo Shinpo (Soyfoods News).1994. Chiba no shin
meisan-hin ni piinattsu iri nattô. Igyôshu kôryû de kaihatsu
hanbai. Azuma Shokuhin [Chiba prefecture promoting new
natto product that contains peanuts. Two different industries
exchanged information to develop and market the product,
made by Azuma Foods]. Feb. 2. p. 7. [Jap]
1465. Sanger, David E. 1994. Tokyo’s tips for New York.
New York Times. Feb. 6. p. SM28-SM29.
• Summary: Japan is the world champion at managing the
chaos of urban life. So here are some ideas from Tokyo that
America would do well to import. (3) Obasans. Every block
in Tokyo has one such lady who sees that everyone on the
block packages their garbage correctly. “But our neighbors
give us a break, viewing our absence of training in this
regard as one of those many cultural handicaps–along with a
lack of appreciation for natto, a particularly potent fermented
[soy] bean dish–that are beyond our control.”
Another idea is gun control; handguns are prohibited in
Japan. Tokyo had a grand total of eight gun-related murders
in 1992, about as many as New York City has every two
days. Japanese can own rifl es and shotguns but the licensing
and storage requirements are very strict. Address: Tokyo
bureau chief of the New York Times.
1466. Agri-Book Magazine (Exeter, ONT, Canada).1994. Far
East market can double. 20(5):29. Feb.
• Summary: Canada is selling more and more soybeans for
food uses to East Asia. Thailand is the only country in the
region that is self-suffi cient in soybean production. Japan
(population 123 million) imports more than 1 million tonnes
per year, Taiwan imports 250,000 tonnes, Indonesia 150,000
tonnes, Korea 120,000 tonnes, and Malaysia 100,000 tonnes.
Singapore and Hong Kong import all the soybeans they use.
In 1993 Ontario produced a record 1.7 million tonnes.
Only 500,000 tonnes of this (29.4%) was exported, and only
a fraction of that was suitable for making soyfoods such as
tofu, natto, soymilk, Taiwanese fermented tofu (foo yee),
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 452
etc. A large color photo shows ladies in Taiwan packing
fermented tofu in jars.
Ontario has captured 56% of the Hong Kong market,
and about 14% of the Malaysian market. But the Asian
market is becoming more competitive because exporters
from the USA are beginning to offer soybeans in bags as well
as bulk shipments. Michael Loh, the OSGMB coordinator for
export development, thinks Canada can achieve its goal of
doubling soybean exports by the year 2000.
1467. Toyo Shinpo (Soyfoods News).1994. Ajia no nattô–
sono genryû o saguru. Biruma, Nepaaru nado e kuruma de
tôsa. Ajinomoto Shohu (hin) no Bunka Fooramu no josei de.
Tenpe-ken Watanabe zen kaichô ra 3 shi. 6 gatsu ni kenkyû
seika happyô [Trying to fi nd the roots of natto in Asia. Three
researchers went to Burma and Nepal by car in search,
helped by Ajinomoto Food Company’s Cultural Forum.
Among them was Tadao Watanabe, former head of the
Tempeh Research Society. They are planning to present their
results in June]. March 21. p. 1. [Jap]
• Summary: Photos show the three researchers who went
on the trip: Tadao Watanabe, Yoshiko Yoshida, and Toshiie
Maeda.
1468. Palawija News (Bogor, Indonesia).1994. International
Soyfoods Fair and the Third Asian Symposium on Non-
Salted Soybean Fermentation: June 4-6, 1994, Akita City,
Japan. 11(1):16. March.
• Summary: For further information contact: Symposium
Executive Committee Director, Seihan Yamada, c/o Akita
International Association Aidex Bldg., 8F, 2-1-60 Sanno,
Akita, Japan 010.
Note: This symposium took place, but the symposium
proceedings were apparently never published.
1469. Toyo Shinpo (Soyfoods News).1994. Mikka kakete
tsukuru Edo no ippin: Kokyû senro tsuranuku Shibazaki
Nattô no Amano-ya [It takes 3 days to make Edo’s {Tokyo’s}
best quality natto: Amano-ya pushes its high class Shibazaki
brand natto]. May 1. p. 10. [Jap]
• Summary: A large photo shows the outside of the plant.
Ten smaller photos show key steps in the process.
1470. SoyaScan Notes.1994. Foods of East Asian origin
that the macrobiotic movement/community has played a
leading role in introducing to America, starting in about
1960 (Overview). May 10. Compiled by William Shurtleff of
Soyfoods Center.
• Summary: These include brown rice, rice cakes, miso
(many types), shoyu (traditional Japanese-style soy sauce),
tamari (Japanese soy sauce containing little or no wheat;
prior to about 1980 many practitioners of macrobiotics
referred to natural shoyu as “tamari,” thus inadvertently
popularizing real tamari, which now may be better known