A few years back, we visited Hōshi, a hotel located in Komatsu, Japan, which holds the distinction of being the 2nd oldest hotel in the world, and “the oldest still running family business in the world.” Built in 718 AD, Hōshi has been operated by the same family for 46 consecutive generations.
It’s hard to imagine. But it’s true. Once established, Hōshi would have to wait another 500 years before soy sauce came to Japan and could be served to its guests. According to the National Geographic video above, a buddhist monk traveled from China to Yuasa, Japan in the 13th century. And there he began producing soy sauce, fermenting soy beans, wheat, salt and water. That tradition continues to this day. This fascinating short film by Mile Nagaoka gives you a good glimpse into this timeless process.
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So, actually this is about the history of soya sauce IN JAPAN, not of soya sauce in general, which is implied by the narrator of the video. Yuasa is not “the birth place of soya sauce”; that honour goes to somewhere in China, which invented soya sauce some 2000+ years ago! The monk who came back from China didn’t invent it himself; he would have either had the recipe or recreated it from what he had seen in China! The narrator of the video has taken some liberties with history, sorry to say!