One of the things that Okazaki is famous for is a locally produced miso paste, hatchou miso. Hatchou miso is dark brown in colour has been made in the same way for hundreds of years. It was a diet staple of local soldiers in the past and is supplied to the emperor today.  I have eaten it in meals at home several times a week and really like the taste whether in a soup or in a tonkatsu sauce. I wanted to tour the factory and buy some to take home. Others in my class were also interested so after class one day several of us decided to go. Three of us cycled and the others without bikes went by train. We were not exactly sure where the factory was but Peter said that he had driven by it and could find it again so off we went.
The cycle trip took about 25 minutes and we arrived at a very large facility with about 5 tour buses parked out front. We waited for our friends but after the train passed and they were not on it we wondered if they were lost. It turns out that they had taken a cab to save time but it ended up taking longer than the train.

We were now quite late and were wondering if we had missed the last tour. We met up with a few others who were looking for a tour and the factory provided us with a guide.

The tour was in Japanese with a little English from  dictionary to deal with the technical terms used for the process.

Basically soybeans are cooked, then shaped into a cross that provides the right amount of surface area covered with a koji (yeast or mold I think) left to ferment a bit, then placed in large cedar vats, stomped to get the air out, covered and then several tons of rocks are placed on top. The vat is then left for about 3 years through summers and winters and then the miso is ready.

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