Day 3 (三)

Since the beginning of the 1900s, Americans have been enjoying the delicacies of Japanese cuisine. An essential ingredient in many Japanese dishes, and Asian dishes in general, is soy sauce. Today we were privileged to visit the world’s most popular soy sauce manufacturer- the Kikkoman Co. Ltd. Kikkoman was founded in the 17th century in Tokyo. Even then the city of Tokyo, then known as Edo, was the economic capital of Japan and the center for innovations of all kinds, including the use of soy sauce by many of the city's restaurants. 400 years later, my group is touring Kikkoman’s Tokyo factory, where they make soy sauce.

The soy sauce making process is rigorous; very similar to the brewing of beer or the processing of vinegar. The only ingredients are wheat, soybeans, salt, and water. The wheat, soybeans, and salt are mixed together to make a mixture, and then fermented over the course of several months. The tricky part comes when you ferment the soy-wheat-salt mixture. The fermentation process can be easily spoiled by wayward bacteria, thereby creating a substance called natto, which the Japanese themselves eat but tastes nasty if derived from the mixture. After several days of processing, the mixture is fermented to the point of perfection. The mixture is placed into filtration sheets, and then hundreds of these sheets are placed on top of each other and pressed, allowing the liquid soy to drip into a container. The liquid soy is none other than soy sauce. At this point, the soy is subsequently bottled and packaged for distribution.

We were taken to another location in Tokyo for a corporate supply chain management presentation by Hisashi Yokoyama, Kikkoman’s Vice President of Supply Chain . His presentation focused on the distribution of Kikkoman products around Japan, describing the history of Kikkoman’s evolving supply chain management techniques. Even though the presentation was translated into English, one could capture the sophistication of Kikkoman’s corporate mindset by their swift responses to our questions and their use of a 120 slide PowerPoint presentation to explain their intricate supply chain structure. Along the tour we were given delicious soy ice cream, which is to be distinguished from soy sauce ice cream, which as far as I can tell neither exists nor should exist…
All I have to say about tomorrow is that it will start early, be very loud, and be very STINKY……