Matsuai Food Co., Ltd.: Soy Sauce and Miso Factory Tour

The Matsuai factory stands in a village called Matsuai that prospered as a region famous for its soy sauce. The village imported high-quality soybeans, wheat, and salt from Amakusa and Nagashima, and shipped 72-liter casks of their soy sauce across southern Kumamoto, Nagasaki (Shimabara, Goto, and Tsushima), and Kagoshima (Akune). In the late 19th century, the village was upgraded to a town called Matsuai, Kumamoto Prefecture, but is now known as Matsuai, Shiranuhi-machi in the city of Uki. Matsuai's warm climate and abundant quality water make it ideal for brewing soy sauce, miso, and vinegar. Even now, the white-walled storehouses that line the streets of the old town carry on the story of that thriving hub of exchange in the Edo period. They take pride in their miso made exclusively from Kumamoto soybeans, Kyushu wheat, and Kyushu rice grown without any fertilizers, pesticides, or additives. The tour of this soy sauce and miso factory is a great chance to learn about the attention and care put into each of Matsuai Food's products.