Kaneiwa, the living soy sauce
On the Pacific coast, in Sodegaura, soy sauce is still made in cedar barrels. Just like in the Edo period.
Kaneiwa has been making soy sauce since 1830. The company still uses the same cedar barrels — kioke — that age their shoyu for two years. The soybeans are grown on four local farms, the wheat comes from Hokkaido, and the sea salt is from the nearby sea. Everything is within a 200 km radius.
Artisanal soy sauce is a compromise between time and patience. Soybeans are cooked, mixed with roasted wheat and koji (Aspergillus oryzae), then brined in cedar barrels. Fermentation lasts 18 to 24 months, at ambient outdoor temperature. Hot summer, cold winter — each season sculpts the sauce.
The story
Kaneiwa's barrels are between 80 and 150 years old. They are alive: their walls harbor unique microorganisms not found in any other barrel in the world. When a barrel dies, a new one is made by master coopers — 4 million yen per barrel, a 100-year investment.
"The wood of our barrels breathes. If you heat the workshop in winter, you kill the sauce."
The terroir
Sodegaura is on the east coast of the Pacific, 60 km from Tokyo. The climate is mild but humid, with marked seasonal variations. This weather is essential for long fermentation: without a cold winter, the sauce becomes flat; without a hot summer, it remains pale.
The salt used is harvested in Niihama, in the inland sea, by solar evaporation. It contains 28 different minerals, compared to 2 for refined industrial salt. This mineral complexity adds an iodine note to the sauce that no industrial sauce can replicate.
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