Japan's Agricultural Standards (JAS) define five soy sauce types and three production methods. Tr
Japan's Agricultural Standards (JAS) define five soy sauce types and three production methods. True-brewed honjozo — moromi mash fermented naturally with only enzyme assistance — accounts for roughly 90% of Japan's 681,000 kilolitre annual output and is the baseline for serious kitchen work.
The five types: koikuchi (dark, all-purpose, roughly 85% of production); usukuchi (light-coloured, slightly saltier, Kansai origin, for preserving colour in delicate dishes); tamari (soybean-dominant, little or no wheat, dense and rich, reddens when heated); saishikomi (twice-brewed — brewed using soy sauce in place of brine, dark and sweet); and shiro (wheat-dominant, pale amber, minimal colour impact for soups and chawanmushi).
SushiSushi's house producer is Shibanuma, based on Shodoshima, Kagawa — one of Japan's oldest soy sauce districts, home to over 1,000 wooden fermentation barrels (kioke) and 400 years of continuous brewing tradition. The climate and the barrels produce a rounder, more complex soy sauce than the factory norm.
