About YAMASA BRAND Since 1645

Through four centuries, YAMASA Corporation has continuously manufactured the finest quality soy sauce available to meet the tastes of our customers both then and now. As we approach our fourth century, we pledge to maintain this tradition of product excellence and value.

1645 : The Legend Begins

Gihei Hamaguchi, founder of YAMASA Corporation began producing soy sauce in Choshi, Chiba prefecture. With its humid climete, cool summers and warm winters, It is the perfect location for producing great tasting soy sauce. Since then, we have continued to produce the very best soy sauce using state-of-the-art technology and traditional brewing methods that remain unchanged since 1645.

A Mark of Excellence

The Japanese character 「上 」 means our soy sauce was appointed the best grade possible by the Tokugawa Shogunate for quality in 1864.
In addition, we were chosen to be purveyors to the imperial household in 1895, further establishing the brand as manufacturer’s of the highest quality soy sauce.

Never-ending Innovation

Yamasa’s R&D team continuously incorporate new ideas into product development. In 2014, Yamasa’s “Drop of Freshness” was awarded the Silver Award at SIAL for its breakthrough package designed to block air from coming in. This innovation prevents our soy sauce from becoming oxidized in the packet, and instead helps retain its ruby red color, the true mark of delicious soy sauce.

Waketokuyama Executive chef
Hiromitsu Nozaki

The Professional’s Choice

Soy sauce is indispensable to Japanese cuisine in which its aroma, flavour and color plays an important role in the execution of every dish. It is for the superiority of these characteristics that the majority of master chefs at upscale Japanese restaurants have picked Yamasa soy sauce as their soy sauce of choice.
Our soy sauce helps bring life to, and not mask, the inherent flavours of each ingredient.

Hiromitsu Nozaki

Grand Chef at Waketokuyama
Hiromitsu Nozaki
Soy sauce is the all-purpose seasoning like an all-around player. Seasoning, flavoring , bringing out the taste of ingredients and coloring. Every function is indispensable elements in Japanese cuisine.
Japan’s food culture is really profound. Japanese soy sauce has a history of hundreds of years, and it is still widely used everyday. It is one of the facts that Japan can be proud of.
Hiromitsu Nozaki

EX-IYO Grand Chef
Haruo Ichikawa
*IYO is the first Japanese restaurant in Italy to receive a Michelin star (2015)
Cooking is sensibility.
I want to give my customers the highest quality cuisine without compromise.
To do this I rely on Yamasa soy sauce.
I always pursue quality and the unwavering flavor of this soy sauce, witch underpins the foundation of my cooking. It does not interfere with even the most delicate dishes.
It works wonders for all my cooking.
Mitsunori Sakamoto

Grand Chef at Sushimoto Japanisches Spezialitaten-Restaurant
Mitsunori Sakamoto
It has been more than 26 years since I opened Sushimoto here in Frankfurt in November of 1989.
Nowadays, sushi has become very popular among foreigners, but back in 1989, people hesitated at the idea of eating raw fish.
I started my restaurant with the thought of introducing really delicious sushi to the German people, but back then it was very difficult just to get the basic ingredients. I took every exhausting effort to get all the things that I needed each and every day.
In the middle of my struggles, the thing that helped me was YAMASA.
YAMASA’s Nikiri soy sauce (a boiled-down sake mixed with soy sauce) was the perfect match for what I was looking for. Since then, this soy sauce has become my favorite.
The balance between the pleasant fragrance and the depth of the taste of YAMASA enhances the natural taste of the food.
YAMASA soy sauce can be used on things other than just sushi. Boiled fish and other simmered foods are very popular dishes at my restaurant, and the depth of the taste of YAMASA soy sauce finishes them off perfectly, so that I do not have to use Tamari soy sauce.
I truly want to fulfill my customer’s satisfaction by serving each and every dish as delicious as possible.
Therefore, I have only used YAMASA and will continue to do so.