Tokyo may be the capital of Japan, but only one hour and 40 minutes by Shinkansen is the capital of all Japanese cuisine: Aichi Prefecture. This beating heart of Japanese umami, the sweet-savory flavor profile that makes up the foundation for many of the country’s most beloved dishes, is where Japan’s fermented foods have been crafted for centuries.
Miso, vinegar, mirin (rice wine), sake, and soy sauce—emcompassing the more common soy sauce and the rare white and Tamari variations—are all made here in Aichi, where the mild climate and easy access to Edo (now Tokyo) back in the 1600s allowed their fermentation prowess to spread throughout the country, reaching even the Imperial Family and historic shogun, Tokugawa Ieyasu.
While you may have Nagoya’s famous castle, Toyota Commemorative Museum of Industry and Technology, and the nearby Ghibli Park on your to-do list, put them on the back-burner while we dive into the depth of Aichi’s flavorful fermented foods—seeing how centuries-old techniques shape modern Japanese cuisine even to this day.
What is Umami?
Umami is the fifth basic taste, alongside sweet, sour, salty, and bitter, translating from Japanese as "pleasant savory taste.” It is a “deep, savory, satisfying flavor that lingers on the tongue,” and it is not an exaggeration to say that this umami is the foundation of Japanese cooking.
Five Japanese ingredients provide this umami to dishes:
- Miso
- Vinegar
- Mirin (rice wine)
- Sake
- Soy sauce
Aichi is one of the only places in Japan where you can experience all of these fermented foods in one place. Here’s where you can get a hands-on history and in-depth knowledge of Japan’s prolific fermentation craftsmanship…
Find out more: Aichi’s Fermented Foods
Kakukyu Hatcho Miso Village (Okazaki City)
Located only moments from the famous Okazaki Castle is the birthplace of Hatcho Miso: Kakukyu Hatcho Miso Traditional Brewery. Named haccho (八丁) after its distance from Okazaki Castle, meaning “eight ‘cho’” away (with a cho translating to approximately 109.09 meters or 357.9 feet), Kakukyu was a supplier of miso for Japan's Imperial Family from the Meiji era (late 1800s) until the 1950s.
As a result of Hatcho's uniquely patient method of manufacturing miso, it was—and still is—favored for having a deep, complex flavor profile that sets it apart from other miso. Crafted from only the highest quality of soybeans, salt, and water, this combination is placed into 1.8m-high wooden casks to mature for over two years.
Resting atop these vats are three tons of stones, stacked one stone at a time by experts with 10 years of training. If there’s one thing Kakukyu certainly has, it’s patience. If something is worth doing, it’s worth doing well, and that takes time. Nowhere is this more true than in fermented foods like miso, where time develops flavor—ensuring every miso-filled mouthful is packed with culture, tradition, and unforgettable umami.
This same mindset is applied to the preservation of traditional fermentation practices, whereby Kakukyu—alongside many of Aichi’s fermentation masters mentioned below—purchase a new wooden vat every year, keeping this centuries-old method of fermentation alive for future generations even as many competitors swap to metal vats.
Okazaki Kakukyu Hatcho Village Restaurant (with Kakukyu Hatcho Miso on-site)
But your time at Kakukyu Hatcho Miso Traditional Brewery isn’t over yet. Just outside the main gates is the Okazaki Kakukyu Hatcho Village Restaurant, showing you how Hatcho miso is used in everyday cooking.
One must-try signature dish is their miso-nikomi udon, one of Aichi’s regional dishes, consisting of thick, chewy udon noodles simmered in a rich, red miso-based broth, and served in traditional donabe earthenware pots.
Another tempting regional option is the miso-katsu, a specialty of Aichi Prefecture’s capital, Nagoya. Bite into a crispy, deep-fried pork cutlet (tonkatsu) smothered in a rich, savory, and slightly sweet miso-based sauce. Compared to the more common tonkatsu sauce, it is considered more of an "acquired taste" due to its intense, bold flavor.
With each dish, you’re closer to understanding how miso, and fermentation in its entirety, can completely change the characteristics of a beloved dish. Ponder this for a while as you eat, peeking through the window into the factory of wooden vats, each filled with six tons of fermenting miso waiting to enrich Japanese cuisine.
Nakasada Shop & Brewing Tradition Museum (Taketoyo Town): Tamari Soy Sauce
Located in the town of Taketoyo, known as the “Town of Miso and Tamari Soy” is Nakasada Shop & Brewing Tradition Museum, another must-visit spot on this journey through Aichi’s umami culture. Even in Japan, Tamari soy sauce is one of the rarest forms, making up only 2% of soy sauce production (Source: Kikkoman). This means that even native Japanese people may have never tried it before.
Compared to regular soy sauce, Tamari soy sauce uses more soybeans in place of wheat, making it naturally gluten-free, slightly less salty, with a deeper flavor and thicker viscosity. Once more, it is fermented in traditional wooden vats, but uses a unique production process that you’ll even have the chance to try for yourself: recirculation.
Brewers use a long ladle to scoop up Tamari soy sauce before pouring it back into the barrel, allowing it to slowly pass through the mame soybean miso beneath the natural stones. This act is said to more uniformly age the soy sauce and deepen its flavor by blending the soy sauce and mame soybean miso more thoroughly. But don’t just take our word for it—pick up the ladle and try it for yourself!
Return from the factory to the Nakasada Shop and enjoy tasting a selection of soy sauces, from the everyday to the deeper flavors of the Tamari soy sauce, showing how just a few dashes can enhance the flavors of everyday dishes.
MIZKAN MUSEUM (Handa City): Japanese vinegar
MIZKAN MUSEUM is a must-visit destination for one of Japan’s less celebrated fermented ingredients: Japanese vinegar. This state-of-the-art museum—as interesting as it is beautifully designed—effortlessly blends tradition and innovation while showing the long history of Mizkan's vinegar production, brewing techniques, commitment to craftsmanship, and how this flavors the dishes and relationships around us.
Considered the “vinegar capital of Japan,” Handa is not only the birthplace of Mizkan, but an important milestone in the evolution of sushi. Mizkan popularized sushi vinegar made from sake lees vinegar, and because it was more affordable and had a deeper umami compared to the more common rice vinegar, it became the go-to vinegar for sushi.
In the evolution of sushi—from narezushi to han-narezushi and then hayazushi—Mizkan’s sushi vinegar was a key ingredient in the creation of nigiri sushi, loved across Japan even to this day. With access to Mizkan’s vinegar via the Handa Canal from the Chita Peninsula to the growing capital of Edo (now Tokyo), sushi chefs were able to reduce the time needed for preserving rice and fish, transforming sushi into a hand-held, fast-food dish.
See this journey of over 200 years unfold before your very eyes across the MIZKAN MUSEUM’s various rooms and exhibits:
- Room of Earth: Understand how vinegar was made in the Edo period and how this has changed, with skills passed down from generation to generation.
- Gallery of Wind: Overlooking the canal, follow the history of Handa, Mizkan’s birthplace, via a gallery of photos while enjoying gentle music.
- Room of Time: Take in the wonder of a 20-meter-long bezaisen (wooden sailing ship), recreated to allow visits to step on deck and witness an immersive, animated journey of vinegar from Handa to Edo across the ages.
- Water Theater: Go beyond the practicality of cuisine and see how Japanese food inspires moments of connection with each season that passes.
- The Park of Light: Taste Japanese vinegar drinks in their purest form, play with interactive exhibits, and take a glimpse into the future of food—an area that is sure to be especially popular with families.
Visitors are left with a lasting impression of the importance of vinegar in Japanese food history, and Mizkan’s pride of place in the way vinegar has shaped Japanese cuisine.
Four Points by Sheraton Nagoya Chubu International Airport
Four Points by Sheraton Nagoya Chubu International Airport is a sleek, contemporary hotel in Aichi that blends comfort and style. Designed for both international travellers and local guests, the hotel offers modern rooms, a welcoming restaurant with unbeatable views over Ise Bay, and a relaxed bar—all of which make it an ideal stay near the airport.
At the heart of the experience is a unique dining concept where modern hospitality meets fermented cuisine. An exclusive dinner menu explores fermentation as both a cultural heritage and a source of innovation, elevating familiar Japanese ingredients through refined, Italian and Japanese techniques.
Aichi’s fermentation, refined: An exclusive dinner menu
Across a carefully curated multi-course experience, traditional fermented elements are reimagined with balance and precision. Subtle uses of Tamari soy sauce enhance delicate seafood, while miso appears in unexpected forms, from rich sauces to gently aromatic broths.
Fermented vegetables and seasonings add depth and umami, while premium local beef rests on a powerful miso-based sauce—further elevated by paired drinks, from local beers to colorful cocktails. The experience concludes with a dessert that incorporates sake lees, offering a refined sweetness and a sense of Aichi’s culture and continuity from course to course.
Fermentation also plays a role beyond dinner. At breakfast, guests will find fermented touches woven into familiar dishes, from miso-based sauces to soy sauce salad dressings, ensuring the philosophy of flavor and tradition continues throughout the stay.
Sawada Sake Brewery (Tokoname)
Led by one of the few female sake brewery owners in Japan, the 6th-generation Ms. Sawada welcomes visitors into Sawada Sake Brewery for a traditional sake brewery tour, beginning with a short presentation on the history of the brewery and surrounding area.
From there, follow the process of making sake, from rice washed with pure spring water from the Chita Peninsula and the creation of koji mold to the moromi fermented mash stage of sake brewing—the final stage before sake is left to ferment, weeks or months before it will be ready for drinking between November to February.
All the while, the sweetness of fermenting sake swims through the air, following you from room to room.
With a deep understanding of how Sawada continues generations of traditional craftsmanship, sit down to a four-sake tasting course, complete with otsumami side dishes, pairing the high-quality Hakuro sake with pickled courgette, cheese, daikon radish, and more. As you sip and snack, scribble down a few tasting notes to decide which sake you most enjoyed, leaving you knowing exactly what to order at the next sake bar.
Or, if you simply can’t resist a local souvenir—and nor should you—buy yourself a bottle of your favorite sake from Sawada Sake Brewery, with a stunning Tokoname-made sake cup, equally famous for their unique pottery culture in this area of Aichi.
Hanare Itto
Selected as one of Tabelog's top 100 Japanese restaurants in the East, Hanare Itto offers a refined kaiseki experience that gently guides diners through the region’s deep-rooted fermentation culture, driven by the motto, “The best ingredients produced by the best people in the best possible form.”
Served by a friendly, knowledgeable chef, the multi-course meal is designed to harmonise with freshly brewed local sake, with fermentation thoughtfully woven into every dish. Pristine sawara Japanese Spanish Mackerel sashimi, delicate fugu pufferfish, and more are enhanced with rich, umami-laden Tamari soy sauce, while silky chawanmushi showcases subtle depth.
Even the humble Akadashi miso soup is elevated, revealing Aichi’s mastery of miso. Local ingredients are once more paired with Tokoname tableware, reinforcing the intimate connection between food, fermentation, and regional craftsmanship.
Kokonoe Mirin (Hekinan City): Japanese rice wine
The Kokonoe Mirin Factory in Hekinan welcomes you into the world of mirin Japanese rice wine and Aichi’s rich mirin heritage, tracing its journey from simple glutinous rice, rice koji, and shochu to the finished, amber-hued condiment—known for adding a subtle sweetness, deep umami, and eye-catching shine to many of your favorite dishes.
Inside, visitors can observe parts of the traditional mirin-making process and tour the museum, learning how fermentation creates mirin’s depth and natural sweetness. An English-supported film and guided explanations bring this process to life at the same time that the traditional architecture quietly reveals the factory’s history of almost 250 years.
One interesting anecdote of this tour was that the main building was carefully relocated from Nagoya to Hekinan, piece by piece. Even now, its stone foundations reveal where the sea once crashed against its walls, while a former path leading from the entrance down to where the sea once was hint at how mirin was transported and traded in a different time.
Before stepping into the factory’s charming souvenir shop, mirin tastings reveal a texture and flavor almost like honey. The attached café and restaurant make the visit linger-worthy, offering mirin soft cream, mirin lattes, sweets, and full meals that showcase mirin’s versatility.
Why not stay a while and experience another side of Aichi’s fermented flavors?
Yamashin Soy Sauce Brewery (Hekinan City)
Another hidden gem of Hekinan City is the white soy sauce of Yamashin Soy Sauce Brewery, bringing a sense of playfulness to another of Japan’s most traditional crafts. Backed by decades of expertise and meticulous care, the brewery highlights the unique appeal of white soy sauce, encouraging visitors to add it freely to dishes and discover how subtly it transforms flavor.
The tour explains the origins of white soy sauce and how it differs from darker varieties, emphasizing just how rare it is—even within Japan. Traditional brewing methods and a careful balance of ingredients remain at the heart of production, yet the atmosphere is lively and welcoming.
A standout moment is the tasting experience, sampling soy sauce straight from the vat as it drains, capturing the energy of the passionate hosts. Their motto, “Delicious food leads to a happy life,” resonates throughout, underscoring how fermentation connects food, memory, and human connection.
With a selection of unique products on offer, from special-grade Yamashin white soy sauce to innovative dipping sauces like Truffle & White Soy sauce and a blend of white soy, flavor-infused olive oils, you’re sure to leave Aichi with more than an understanding of umami and fermentation.
Visit Aichi, Japan’s Umami Heart
Aichi’s fermented food culture tells a story that is uniquely its own. By connecting miso, vinegar, sake, mirin and soy sauce under a shared regional identity, the prefecture reveals how fermentation is not just a technique, but a way of life shaped by climate, history, and quiet dedication.
Visitors are invited into factories and breweries to see, smell, taste, and understand fermentation at every stage, gaining a deeper appreciation for the patience and precision behind everyday Japanese flavors.
Look beyond Ghibli Park, and you will find a prefecture rich in flavor, story, and substance—a true must-visit destination for anyone seeking to discover the unsung heroes of all food in Japan.
