It was a grey drenched cloud day. Water pellets glistened against the bus window as pascals of green grass and grey shapeless rocks played in the background.Woops! Wrong style. Let's try this again.
The day was soaking wet and expected to rain all day. Our bus driver hauled ass on the tsunami highway: a formula one racer disguised as a tour bus coach. I'm totally stoked as I knew what awaited after the one and half hour bus ride to Takasago, Hyogo: soy sauce, baby!
The ride was extremely entlightening with images of green fields, rice patties, and mountains in the background. A total contrast to the metropolitan neon lights of pachinko (a casino of pinball style slot machines) shops in Osaka. I felt I was riding through a scene from Rouroni Kenshin and kept the look out for samurai's running along the bus.
Out of the lush green fields and a small town filled with little houses erupted a "KIKKOMAN" sign next to the train tracks. Behind the sign lay a huge sterile factory reminscent of a industrial scene from Akira: larges pipes all around with workers all dressed in white. If the plant didn't say Kikkoman, I would have thought that they were planning some sort of massive mecha movement inside the containers. (Actually, I was hoping for this!!!)After exiting the bus, we were led straight into a classroom auditorium setting with soy sauce bottles displayed for all glory. With brief introductions, the plant chief took the stage and spoke fluent English. He accreditted his fluency to the 4 years he spent in Wisconsin at the Kikkoman plant there (huh, Wisconsin?). He kept thanking us for the visit and was extremely gracious. Next was a brief Kikkoman infomercial from 1981 explaining the history and progress of Kikkoman (I'll leave it to the website to explain).
FACT: Kikkoman is a privately held company with ventures in soy sauce, wines, and owns a 100% stake in Del Monte Asia.
Pictured to the left are 2 huge containers which mix both wheat and soy together to create a harmonious blend which soy sauce is extracted from. Along the factory tour, we filled our olfactory senses with a variety of soy sauce aromas. Next, we were led to a special warehouse where the soy sauce gets compressed out of the leather like mix of soy, wheat, and salt. Now, if I go into any more detail of how sauce is made, I would be expected to commit sapaku (honorary suicide). Kikkoman, your secret is safe with me.
With our visit winding down, we had a question and answer session with the plant chief. Before we had to leave for our next stop at the Sake Museum, Kikkoman gave us a rare bottle of soy sauce (mixed with oil). The shoyu sample we received is not just for any VIPs, but it is the official shoyu of the Emperor's family! It is rarely distributed: only to select VIPs. It was a special commemoration because it is not only the 50th anniversary of the SF-Osaka Sister City association, but also the 50th anniversary of Kikkoman doing business in US. (So how did I get one?)Thanks again Kikkoman.
