Soy Sauce Day Gathering Held

A “Gathering on Soy Sauce Day” was held in Tokyo on September 29 to commemorate Soy Sauce Day.* During this event, awards were presented for the 4th Soy Sauce Master Craftspersons and the 34th annual National Soy Sauce Fair.

One of the highlights of the Gathering was the commendation of four Soy Sauce Master Craftspersons, recognizing individuals who have demonstrated creativity and ingenuity in bringing out the values intrinsic to soy sauce and employing them skillfully. The winners are engaged in the manufacture of processed foods using soy sauce, and were presented with diplomas of merit by Kikkoman Chairman and CEO Yuzaburo Mogi, who is also chairman of the Soy Sauce Information Center.

The National Soy Sauce Fair has been held each year since 1973, when the Japan Agricultural Standards (JAS) for soy sauce were established to improve the quality of soy sauce, optimize indications on products and offer high quality soy sauce to consumers, thereby contributing to the sound development of the industry. This was the 34th year for this event; and out of all the soy sauce products manufactured throughout Japan, only 46 were selected and presented at the Fair.

* The soy sauce industry of Japan holds various PR activities on Soy Sauce Day, which is officially set on October 1, a date with historically strong connections to soy sauce. Autumn once signaled the start of traditional soy sauce production; in addition, the Chinese character for October is derived from the form of an urn, which was once used to make brewed products, including soy sauce.