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

as an edible oil in the manufacture of lard substitutes and
oleomargarine. It is used to a limited extent as a lubricant
and burning oil. ‘German Coffee Berry’ is a species of soya
bean the seed of which, being parched and ground, is used
as coffee. As a by-product the soya-bean meal is a valuable
stock food.” He then discusses natto, based on a 1912 article
by S. Muramatsu. He adds, incorrectly, that “Tofu is a liquid
preparation resembling cow’s milk and manufactured from
soya beans.”
Note: Azor Thurston lived 1861-1922. Address: Ohio
State Univ.
140. Evans, W.A. 1918. How to keep well. Chicago Daily
Tribune. Aug. 28. p. 6.
• Summary: “Soy beans offer large possibilities as a food.
They contain 17 per cent fat, 36 per cent proteid, and 14
per cent starch. Soy bean milk has been used for feeding
children for a long time. Le Wall says that soy bean cheese
and soy bean croquettes resembling meat croquettes are
in use. According to the same author, soy bean is the basis
of Worcestershire and other sauces. Among orientals soy
bean foods are: Tashir, a bean natto and miso, also soy bean
cheeses. Ordinary soy milk and Yuba or soy cream are in use.
Shoyer [sic, shoyu] is an oriental sauce in making which soy
beans are used.” Address: Dr.
141. Virginia Department of Agriculture and Immigration,
Bulletin.1918. Soy bean useful crop. May be utilized in
greater number of ways than almost any other agricultural
product. No. 126. p. 174-76.
• Summary: “In addition to its availability as a food, soybean
oil has found important uses in the markets of the
world for making paints, varnishes, soaps, rubber substitutes,
linoleum, waterproof goods, and lubricants. It is also used
in the Orient for lighting and in the manufacture of printing
ink. In Japan the soy bean forms one of the most important
articles of food in use. It is one of the principle ingredients in
the manufacture shoyu (soy sauce), miso (bean cheese), tofu
(bean curd), and natto (steamed beans). The beans are eaten
also as a vegetable and in soups; sometimes they are picked
green, boiled, and served cold with soy sauce, and sometimes
as a salad. A ‘vegetable milk’ is also produced from the soy
bean, forming the basis for the manufacture of the different
kinds of vegetable cheese. This milk is used fresh, and a
form of condensed milk is manufactured from it. All of these
foodstuffs are used daily in Japanese homes, and for the
poorer classes are the principle source of protein.”
“An artifi cial milk like that manufactured in the Orient
has been produced in small quantities in the United States,
and recently a factory has been equipped to make this
product.” Photos show: (1) Soy beans as a forage crop,
arranged in stacks. (2) Lime spreader at work. Address:
Virginia.
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HISTORY OF NATTO AND ITS RELATIVES 85
142. Hanzawa, Jun. 1919-1921. Nattô. I-III gô [Natto. I, II,
and III.]. Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan: Sapporo Nattô Yôki
Kairyôkai. [Jap]*
• Summary: In 1919 Dr. Jun Hanzawa, of Hokkaido
University’s Department of Agriculture, published the fi rst
of three key reports which helped to bring natto production
in Japan out of the “Dark Ages.” Serving simultaneously
as a microbiologist, and extension worker, and a pilot plant
operator, Dr. Hanzawa began by making a pure-culture
bacterial inoculum for natto; this enabled commercial natto
manufacturers, for the fi rst time, to discontinue the use of
rice straw as a source of inoculum.
Secondly, disliking the use of rice straw even as a
wrapper, he developed a simple, low-cost method for
packing, incubating, and selling natto wrapped in paper-thin
sheets of pine wood (kyogi) or small boxes of pine veneer
(oribako).
A third important improvement followed shortly; the
development of a new incubation room design (bunka
muro), which had an air vent on the ceiling and substantially
decreased the natto failure rate. These three developments
laid the basis for modern industrial, sanitary, scientifi c natto
manufacture.
Commercial natto makers fi lled his classes and he
worked as a consultant for them. Like Dr. Muramatsu before
him, Dr. Hanzawa sold his “University Natto” from his
research lab, promoting it as a rival to cheese. He was given
the appellation of “the father of modern natto production.”
In 1971 he was given the honor of addressing the
emperor of Japan on the subject of natto. Address: PhD, Dep.
of Agriculture, Hokkaido University.
143. Rindl, M. 1920. Vegetable fats and oils. IV-V. Semidrying
oils. Soy bean. South African J. of Industry 3(6):518-
31. June; 3(8):742-49. Aug. [29 ref]
• Summary: These are 2 installments of a series of articles
on vegetable fats and oils, forming a Report to the Advisory
Board of Industry and Science on Vegetable Oils, Fats, and
Waxes. Soybeans are considered among the semi-drying
oils. Contents of Part I: Introduction. Early [soybean]
experiments in South Africa. Botanical characters. Varieties.
Germination. Inoculation. Technique of inoculation. Soy
beans as a rotation crop for maize. Comparison of soy beans
and cowpeas. Storage of seed. The soy bean as human food.
Vitamines. Soy-bean [food] preparations: Soy-bean milk,
soy-bean curd [tofu], the soy bean as a vegetable (baked,
boiled, roasted, green beans [green vegetable soybeans],
soy-bean pulp (kara)). Soy-bean meal [soy fl our and its
uses]. Fermented soy-bean products: Fermented boiled beans
(natto), ripened vegetable cheese (miso), the Chinese paste
chiang, soy-bean sauce (shoyu).
Contents of Part II: Oil content of seed produced in
South Africa. Quality of oil from South African beans.
Extraction of oils. Nature and composition of soy-bean oil,