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

of pounded soybeans mixed with water. In front of her are a
wooden mortar and pestle.
Note: This document contains the earliest date seen for
soybeans in Chad, or the cultivation of soybeans in Chad
(about 1975). The source of these soybeans is unknown.
Address: PhD, UNDP Project Advisor, Box 9, Sarh, Chad.
Phone: +235 68-12-43 Fax: (235) 68-1309.
1508. Liu, Keshun; Orthoefer, Frank; Thompson, Keith.
1995. The case for food-grade soybean varieties. INFORM
(AOCS) 6(5):593-96, 598-99. May. [10 ref]
• Summary: Contents: Introduction. Food beans vs. oil
beans. Traditional soyfoods: Soymilk, tofu, toasted full-fat
soy fl our [kinako], soy sprouts, soy sauce, miso, tempeh,
natto. Soy protein ingredients: Soy grits and fl our, soy
protein concentrates, soy protein isolates. Soyfood nutrition.
Current size of food bean market. Breeding of food beans.
Conclusions.
“Oil/meal beans include all the commonly produced
soybeans.” The oil is typically used for food and the meal
for livestock feed. However the “new varieties of food
soybeans” are generally exported to countries in East Asia
for preparation of Oriental soyfoods. Table 3 compares the
attributes of food beans vs. oil beans. Seed size: Large vs.
small to large. Seed uniformity: High vs. no preference. Hull
color: White-yellow vs. yellow. Hull quality: Thin, fi rm vs.
no preference. Hilum color: Clear to buff vs. clear to blank.
Protein content: High vs. medium to high. Oil content: Low
to high vs. high. Cleanliness: U.S. Grade 1 or better vs. any
grade. Major applications: Tofu, soymilk vs. oil, defatted
meal.
In addition to their use in making traditional soyfoods,
the “new food-grade varieties,” especially those with high
protein content, have been marketed for preparation of
toasted full-fat soy fl our, defatted soy fl our, and soy protein
concentrates and isolates.
Photos show: (1) Keshun Liu, Frank Orthoefer, and
Keith Thompson. (2) Color and size comparison of soybeans
for food use and those intended for crushing (color). The
“food beans” are larger than the “oil beans.”
Note: This is the earliest English-language document
seen (July 2001) that contains the term “oil beans” or the
term “oil/meal beans,” both used in contrast to “food beans”
or “food soybeans.” This is also the earliest English-language
document seen (July 2001) with the term “food-grade” (or
“food grade”) used in the title to refer to soybeans or soybean
varieties. Address: 1. Project Leader, Soyfood Lab., Jacob
Hartz Seed Co. Inc., 901 N. Park Ave., Stuttgart, Arkansas
72160; 2. Vice President for research and development,
Riceland Foods Inc., P.O. Box 927, Stuttgart, AR 72160;
3. Vice president, International Soyfood Sales, Jacob Hartz
Seed Co.
1509. Reuters. 1995. Rotting beans make sweeter feet.
© Copyright Soyinfo Center 2012
HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 469
Toronto Star (Ontario, Canada). June 20. p. A16.
• Summary: A Japanese biotechnology fi rm named Capital
Corp. (president Tsutomu Harada) has launched a product
(Niowan 201) using natto bacteria to remedy acute foot odor.
Natto, sticky fermented soybeans, are widely eaten with rice
for breakfast in the northern half of Japan.
The company, based in Osaka, “combines dormant natto
bacteria with sawdust and rice bran into thin packs worn
under the feet. The other ingredients preserve the bacteria
until they are activated by the heat and humidity of the feet,
neutralizing the bad smell.”
1510. Iwata, Masakazu. 1995. Re: The pioneering work of
Gonshiro Harada (died 1943) with koji, tofu, miso, natto, and
okara in California. Letter to William Shurtleff at Soyfoods
Center, Aug. 25. 1 p. Typed, with signature.
• Summary: Mr. Iwata is the author of Planted in Good Soil:
A History of the Issei in United States Agriculture (1992).
Yesterday he contacted Fred Harada, “whose father had a
tofu manufacturing establishment in the Fresno area... He is
a good source of information. His father, Gonshiro Harada
(died 1943), an Issei (fi rst-generation Japanese immigrant
to the USA) from Hiroshima Prefecture, was a master kojimaker
who learned his trade in Japan. He opened a store in
Fresno in the 1920s but went broke during the depression
of 1929; he was a creditor unable to collect from credit
customers. Subsequently, in 1939, he relocated in Fowler,
about 10 miles southeast of Fresno, where he and his wife
and family (nine children) established the Harada Tofu Co.
and manufactured such foods as tofu, kamaboko, agé, miso,
natto, okara, and other related items, peddling them to the
Japanese farmers in a broad area of Central California. Of
course the company handled vegetables and other grocery
goods on their route consisting of several hundred customers.
“Fred indicates that his father was an innovative
entrepreneur who made much of his own tofu-making
equipment.” Fred believes his father got at least some of his
soybeans from rice growers in the Colusa region, who grew
soybeans as a sideline. “He mentioned that the Koda rice
farms in South Los Baños may have had some acreage in this
crop.”
Fred Harada can be contacted at 637 North 6th Street,
Montebello, CA 90640. Phone: 213-721-8455. Best to
contact him after 7:00 p.m. Address: 879 North Vail Ave.,
Montebello, California 90640. Phone: 213-723-4389.
1511. Iwata, Masakazu. 1995. Re: Early soybean cultivation
by Japanese rice growers in central California around the
time of World War I. Letter to William Shurtleff at Soyfoods
Center, Aug. 25. 1 p. Typed, with signature.
• Summary: Yesterday Dr. Iwata contacted Fred Harada,
“whose father had a tofu manufacturing establishment in
the Fresno area... He is a good source of information... My
conjecture would have been that much of the soybeans for