Yuasa Soy Sauce & Around

Soy sauce, as the world knows it, traces its roots to Yuasa: monks returning from China in the thirteenth century brought a miso whose runoff proved to be a seasoning in its own right, and this small port town perfected it. The preserved merchant quarter — a nationally designated historic district — still smells of cedar vats and slow fermentation, and a handful of family breweries carry on the craft, some opening their doors for tours and tastings. Pair the town with the terraced mandarin groves of neighbouring Arida, and finish with shirasu-don: whitebait landed just metres from your bowl. From here the section widens along the citrus coast: the whole of Arida and its terraced mandarin groves, then south through Gobo — a little temple town with a surprising ramen scene — and on down the fishing harbours and quiet capes of the Hidaka district, home of the bell-legend temple Dojo-ji.