Rediscover "umami": A soy sauce and olive oil sommelier guides you around Shodoshima

Founded in the Edo period. Learn about the delicious history of soy sauce at this long-established soy sauce brewery

Yamaroku Soy Sauce

First, we will introduce the soy sauce brewery "Yamaroku Soy Sauce." It is a two-minute walk from Eikoji Temple, the thirteenth temple of the Shodoshima Pilgrimage, located in the southeast of the island. The brewery is located at the end of a narrow, winding road that runs along a quaint stone wall. Although the brewery is located in a secluded area, it has many passionate fans all over the country, and more than 30,000 people visit to see it every year.

Yamaroku Soy Sauce uses only domestically produced soybeans and wheat, and its soy sauce is mellow and rich in umami, with a deep flavor that makes it seem like the soy sauce alone will go down well with rice. The containers used to prepare the soy sauce are traditional wooden barrels, which are now rare. Wooden barrels made by the brewers themselves are still in use.

The brewery is open all year round, so even if you visit without a reservation during business hours, a brewer will greet you with a "Hello. Are you here for a tour?" and guide you around. Inside the historic brewery, which has been designated a registered tangible cultural property, there are rows of wooden barrels. The space is filled with the sophisticated aroma of soy sauce and has a somewhat mystical atmosphere.

The mellow, deep flavor that is unique to Yamaroku Soy Sauce is created thanks to the microorganisms that live densely in the wooden barrels, and if the wooden barrels were to disappear, it would be impossible to reproduce that flavor... There is a lot to learn from the stories about soy sauce making that the brewers tell us, and they will completely change your perception of how soy sauce is made.

Once the tour is over, take a break at the open-air cafe "Yamaroku Chaya." There is a wide variety of menu items that allow you to enjoy the taste and aroma of soy sauce, including original sweets such as soy sauce pudding and soy sauce ice cream, as well as light meals such as egg on rice and "kakimeshi," a local dish of the island where stir-fried carrots and chicken are simmered in soy sauce and then mixed with rice.

Their signature product is the mellow and rich soy sauce "Tsurusho," which took about four years to create. It has a rich, full-bodied, deep flavor. It's delicious when served with fatty sashimi or poured over vanilla ice cream!

Take home the finest olive oil from an eco-friendly olive farm

i's Life

Next up is the olive farm "i's Life." The owner, Yuya Tsutsumi, is from Osaka and has a friendly personality with a sense of humor and a polite, earnest personality. If you contact him in advance and Tsutsumi is available, you can visit the olive trees and lemon fields on the farm.

The olive farm does not use herbicides because it does not want to damage the land that grows the olives. This environmentally friendly farm, which is sometimes visited by wild rabbits and squirrels, is so comfortable that you will want to take a leisurely nap.

The shop, located a 15-minute drive from the farm, sells olive oil made from olives grown on the farm, as well as food ingredients such as salt and rice produced on Shodoshima, and high-quality olive oils from overseas selected by the owner, who is also an olive oil sommelier.

Their most popular product, "Green Lemon Olive Oil," is made from unripe lemons and olives grown without pesticides, and is an oil with a refreshing lemon flavor. This product was nominated for the highest award, "Best of Class," at the prestigious olive oil contest, "Los Angeles International Extra Virgin Olive Oil Competition 2015," and it sells out quickly, so if you see it, we recommend buying it right away!