Take your home-cooked meals to the next level with “Hasamezu”! This is soy sauce that can be used for cooking♪

The product we will be introducing this time is [Hasamezu Soy Sauce Assortment] 

[Hasamezu] If you just ask me the name, what does it mean? Many people may think so.

[Hasamezu] is the signature product of the Fukuoka soy sauce store, which was painstakingly created by the second generation Tomohiro Kawamukai.

The reason why it is [Hasamezu] is,
According to a Kyoto elder, ``In the past, soy sauce was used as a side dish, and the food could be eaten by sandwiching it with chopsticks. ``That's why it was called ``Hasamezu.''
The second generation Tomohiro Kawamukai heard about this and decided to create a new soy sauce that he worked hard to create, saying, ``I want it to be a soy sauce that can be used in cooking.'' It is said that the name was chosen with the idea of "

The products we are introducing are a set of two 900ml bottles in dark color and one 900ml bottle in light color.

View product information for Hasamezu Soy Sauce Assortment

A versatile soy sauce that goes well with any dish, whether it's good for drizzling, dipping, or boiling [Hasamezu Koiiro]

A best-selling product at the Fukuoka soy sauce store.
Using only carefully selected whole soybeans, adding vegetable amino acids and other ingredients to the raw fried food produced through over 100 years of tradition, this is a masterpiece created by the second generation of the family, combining new ingenuity.

You can enjoy it deliciously not only with home-cooked meat and potatoes or stir-fried dishes, but also with egg-cooked rice or cold tofu.
Although not one in every household, it is a useful all-purpose soy sauce.

Not spicy soy sauce [Hasamezu Usuiro]

When you try using regular light soy sauce, you often find it to be salty and spicy.

However, [Hasamezu Usuiro] made by Fukuoka Soy Sauce Store has succeeded in creating an exquisite balance of beautiful appearance, delicious taste, and salt content that is not too spicy after many trial productions.
Although the color is light, it is a rich extract that is recommended for soups such as udon soup and sashimi soup.
You can also finish cooked rice beautifully.

Please use it when you want to make the most of the color, flavor, and aroma of the material.

A registered tangible cultural property storehouse and Yoshino cedar bucket with a history of over 100 years of creating delicious food.

We toured the brewery that produces delicious soy sauce.
The storehouses and barrels that have been in use since the company's founding are full of yeast, and these yeast are what make the soy sauce at Fukuoka Soy Sauce so delicious.
The stains on the ceiling and pillars are yeast bacteria that are essential for soy sauce making.

Nowadays, there are fewer craftsmen who can repair wooden barrels, so our in-house staff continues to use them with care while repairing them.

Traditional koji preparation

At the time of our interview, the koji preparation period had ended, so it was stored in a room, but at the Fukuoka soy sauce store, the koji is also prepared in the traditional manner.
In a room covered with 50cm thick clay walls, steamed soybeans, wheat, and seed koji are mixed together, placed in a wooden frame called a koji lid, and fermented for three days.

We manually put the malt into each lid in a well-balanced manner, and adjust the temperature and humidity in the room depending on the temperature and humidity of the day.Furthermore, the fermentation state of the malt is different in the upper and lower rows, so the fermentation state is always different. Swap the positions.
Meanwhile, gently loosen the dough with your hands so that it ferments evenly.

By repeating this process over and over again over a period of three days, the exquisite koji that shines in golden color is created.

Mix thoroughly every day to encourage fermentation. 

The koji fermented in a room is poured into a cedar vat filled with salt water.
It is slowly aged in cedar vats for one and a half to two years, with the help of yeast and lactic acid bacteria.

It is obvious at a glance whether it is freshly prepared or has matured.
The soybeans that have just been prepared still have the shape of soybeans, and you can hear them fermenting in places, making popping sounds.

The Fukuoka soy sauce store is probably the only one left. “Kirin-style squeezer” designated as a specific cultural property 

A Fukuoka soy sauce store that does not rely on machines and is particular about making everything by hand. We also use the Kirin-style squeezing machine, which has been used since our founding.
This giraffe-style squeezer uses a 6m-long straight zelkova log rod that resembles a giraffe's neck, and uses the lever principle to slowly compress the soybeans, without squeezing out the excess oil from the soybeans. Apparently it can be used to make delicious soy sauce.

The sake is transferred from the large cedar vat to a small squeezer, and from there small amounts are transferred to jute bags for squeezing. This is a luxurious traditional manufacturing method that takes a lot of effort and time.

We are particular about handmade products until the very end. 

Bottling of soy sauce is also done by hand. Each bottle is inserted into the machine by hand.
The soy sauce that has taken many hours of effort is poured into the set container.

Even putting bottle caps on soy sauce containers was done by hand, one by one.
When I was watching it, I had the image of an old station worker cutting a ticket, but it seems like it takes more strength than I imagined, and it's quite hard work.
But I got used to it, and in no time I had 10 or 20 bottles wrapped and packed in boxes.

Labeling is also done by hand 

The labels, which are the face of the product, are also handmade.
Each bottle of soy sauce is wiped clean and placed on a labeling table, and the label is applied neatly and quickly.After checking for any distortion, the bottle is wiped clean again and packed.

Apparently they bottle and label 1,000 bottles a day.
That's amazing.

Nowadays, everything is mechanized, but the Fukuoka soy sauce shop is particular about making its soy sauce by hand, and you can feel their love for soy sauce and their gratitude to their customers.

Dressing made with passion fruit grown in Iga, expressing gratitude to the local community.

Delicious passion fruit with a sugar content of 15 to 19 is grown in NabariCity, a village in Iga, through years of research and passion.
We developed this ``Passion Fruit Dressing'' to help raise awareness of this delicious passion fruit and to give back to the local community in some small way.
This passion fruit is very rich in beta-carotene, vitamin B6, vitamin C, and folic acid. Beta-carotene is said to protect against lifestyle-related diseases such as arteriosclerosis and myocardial infarction, and to maintain normal cell movement in the skin and mucous membranes.

In addition, vitamin B6 has antioxidant effects and boosts immunity.

No additives are used.
This product can be enjoyed as is or as passion fruit juice by diluting it with carbonic acid.

various lineups 

In addition, there are also works based on [Hasamezu Koiiro].
Oil-free [onion dressing] full of crushed onions,
[Yakiniku sauce] with plenty of Sanfuji from Shinshu and grated onions

Based on [Hasamezu Usuiiro]
Refreshing ponzu soy sauce made with the peel and juice of seedling yuzu from Tokushima Prefecture [Yuzu no Mai]
There are also.

Also, when trying to spread soy sauce culture overseas, there were many questions about whether there were any ``Halal'' products.
Therefore, we have been developing ``Halal'' products, obtained HALAL certification, and currently have 13 products in stock.

HALAL certified products are made to order, so please contact the store.

I want to deliver soy sauce from Fukuoka soy sauce store to the whole world! 

The company was founded in Iga Shimagahara for 125 years because it was surrounded by the rich nature of the mountain range and had clean, delicious water.

It is difficult just to protect a warehouse that has been designated as a “registered tangible cultural property,” but we do not rely on any modern machinery, use the same tools and warehouses as when we were founded, and maintain traditional manufacturing methods. The Fukuoka soy sauce store never forgets its inquisitive spirit of aiming for better things through initiatives and ingenuity in the new era, and continues to take on challenges.

I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of delicious soy sauce and dressings they will create using local ingredients.

 View product information for Hasamezu Soy Sauce Assortment

We welcome tours of the warehouse, which is a registered tangible cultural property, at any time.
Depending on the preparation, there may be times when you may not be able to enter the brewery, so please be sure to contact us in advance.
OK even for one person
It is a valuable brewery that is visited by many bus tours every year.
If you are planning to visit us nearby, why not try it out on our course?

【basic information】
Fukuoka Soy Sauce Store Co., Ltd.
1330 Shimagahara, IgaCity City, Mie Prefecture
TEL: 0595-59-3121
Business hours: 9:00-17:00
HP: https://www.hasamezu.com/