Tsuru Bishio from Shodoshima
$34.00
Sale price
$34.00
Regular price
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Tsuru Bishio from Shodoshima
$34.00
Sale price
$34.00
Regular price
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There is one bottle in your pantry that changes how you think about seasoning. This is it.
Tsuru Bishio is Yamaroku's flagship soy sauce — double-brewed using the saishikomi method, aged for four years in cedar kioke barrels that have been alive for over 150 years. The result is something closer to aged balsamic than anything you have poured from a supermarket bottle: dark, velvety, layered, and made from nothing but soybeans, wheat, and salt.
Highlights
- Double-brewed using the saishikomi method: soy sauce aged for 1–2 years is returned to the barrel, fresh soybeans and wheat are added, and it is aged for another 2–3 years to develop its depth and mellow flavor.
- Brewed by fifth-generation brewmaster Yasuo Yamamoto on Shodoshima Island — one of fewer than 1% of Japanese producers still using traditional kioke wood barrels.
- Three ingredients only — soybeans, wheat, and salt. No additives, no shortcuts. The same recipe since the Meiji era.
- Shipped directly from Yamaroku's brewery on Shodoshima — not from a US warehouse.
Details
- Common Product Name: Saishikomi Soy Sauce（再仕込み醤油・鶴醤） See our guide to Japanese soy sauce types.
- Volume: 500ml
- Ingredients: Soybeans (domestic "Enrei"), Wheat (Hokkaido "Haruyutaka" / "Yumechikara" / "Haruyokoi"), Salt (Mexican sun-dried) — no additives
- Allergens: Contains soy and wheat
- Best Before: Approx. 3 years from production date (unopened)
- Storage: Cool, dark place. Refrigerate after opening. See our full storage guide.
- Origin: Shodoshima Island, Kagawa
- Producer: Yamaroku Shoyu Co., Ltd.（ヤマロク醤油株式会社, 5th generation）
Producer's Story
On Shodoshima Island in Japan's Seto Inland Sea, fifth-generation brewmaster Yasuo Yamamoto tends cedar kioke barrels that have been fermenting soy sauce for over 150 years. His brewery — built in the Meiji era and designated a Registered Tangible Cultural Property of Japan — is home to more than 100 strains of wild yeast and lactic acid bacteria living in its wooden beams and earthen walls. At a time when over 99% of Japanese soy sauce is produced in stainless steel tanks, Yamamoto-san chose to restore the near-extinct craft of kioke brewing. Tsuru Bishio is his most confident expression of that commitment: double-brewed, aged for a minimum of four years, made from nothing but soybeans, wheat, and salt.
Tasting Profile
Dark as mahogany and velvety in texture. The nose opens with caramel and roasted grain, followed by deep, layered umami that lingers without sharpness. Less salty than standard soy sauce — more rounded, more complex. The finish is long and warm. A drop on the tongue tells you immediately that this is something different.
Cooking Ideas
Start with a little over sashimi or chilled tofu, or add a few drops to grilled fish or steak just before serving. Its depth and rounded flavor are easiest to appreciate when you taste it alongside something simple.
At our table, we often introduce Tsuru Bishio over temaki sushi, making hand-rolls together with guests visiting Japan. Then, after dinner, the same bottle comes out again — this time over vanilla ice cream. It has brought the same surprise every time: the soy sauce they have just enjoyed with sushi brings a caramel-like richness to dessert, with an umami depth that caramel alone does not have.
Try a few drops on a spoonful of vanilla ice cream first, then add a little more to taste. It is a small discovery you can share around your own table, with no extra cooking — just the same bottle, and something unexpected at the end of the meal.
If you enjoy exploring Yamaroku’s range, keep Tsuru Bishio for these finishing touches and try Kiku Bishio alongside it as an everyday soy sauce.
Shipping from Japan
Glass bottles travel best together — add two or three to one box and the cost per bottle drops. Example U.S. shipping: 1 bottle ~$33 · 2 ~$47 · 3–5 ~$67. (Rates vary slightly with the exchange rate.) Shipped directly from Yamaroku’s brewery on Shodoshima.
Complete the table
Tsuru Bishio is the soy at the center. A few simple things set the whole table around it:
- Gokujo Kontobi Nori — Tsukiji’s prized blue-green nori, crisp for wrapping.
- Tamaruya Wasabi Paste — real Shizuoka hon-wasabi for sashimi and hand-rolls.
- Chidori-su Rice Vinegar — Kyoto’s two-century rice vinegar, for the sushi rice.
Or begin with all three of Yamaroku’s barrel-brewed sauces at once — the Yamaroku Tasting Set brings Tsuru, Kiku, and their sudachi-yuzu ponzu together in one box.
Bring them together for Temaki Sushi — Hand-Rolled at the Table, the meal we often make with guests in our kitchen. Everyone rolls their own, with a little Tsuru Bishio for dipping.
For the hottest evenings, a few drops finish cold tofu in our Hiyayakko — The Dinner You Don't Cook.
New to CookGood? Our Start Here page offers three ways in: one bottle, one dinner, or a pantry starter kit.
Read the full story in Soy Sauce and the Inland Sea and A Journey to Shodoshima.
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