Visiting the Origins of Hatcho Miso

Recently, I had the opportunity to visit the historic miso brewery Kakukyu Hatcho Miso in Okazaki, Aichi Prefecture.

With a history spanning over 380 years, the brewery carries on a tradition of red miso production that has remained unchanged through generations.
Standing in the brewery, I felt a profound sense of weight and a quiet tension—something that cannot fully be expressed in words.

At Katsukichi, we have been using this Hatcho miso for approximately 70 years since our founding.
The simple bowl of red miso soup we serve each day holds within it layers of time and the craftsmanship of many hands. This visit allowed me to truly appreciate that depth once again.

Inside the brewery stand massive wooden vats, each filled with approximately six tons of miso.
On top of them are carefully stacked stones weighing around three tons.
Over the course of more than two years, the miso slowly undergoes fermentation and maturation.

The ingredients are remarkably simple—just soybeans and salt.
Yet from this simplicity emerges an extraordinary depth of flavor.

The process, nurtured together with the microorganisms that live within the brewery, feels like a dialogue between nature and human craftsmanship.
In many ways, it reminded me of traditional natural winemaking in France.

The result is a flavor that is both powerful and deeply layered.
It is a true expression of the aesthetics and techniques that have been cultivated within Japanese food culture over centuries.

We will continue to treat this Hatcho miso with the utmost care and serve it as part of our red miso soup at Katsukichi.
It is our hope that, through each bowl, our guests may also come to appreciate the story and value behind it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kakukyu Hatcho Miso (Hatcho Miso Village) – View on Google Maps

 

 

We have summarized Katsukichi’s commitment to ingredients on the following page.
If you are interested, please feel free to take a look:
https://www.bodaijyu.co.jp/en/tonkatsu/