Highlights

• Brewed from prized Tanba black soybeans— Japan's most celebrated soybean variety, grown in the mountain valleys of Kyoto and Hyogo for over a thousand years — combined with domestic wheat and sea salt in open wooden fermentation barrels, aged for a full two years
• Made in Yuasa, Wakayama Prefecture — the birthplace of Japanese soy sauce, where the craft has been practiced since the 13th century and where the traditional brewing method holds GI (Geographic Indication) protected status
• The flagship product of Yuasa Shoyu and the standard against which the brewery measures everything else: rich, complex, and unmistakably distinctive from any soy sauce made with ordinary soybeans

Details

• Common Product Name: Kiippon Kuromame Shoyu (生一本黒豆醤油) — Pure Black Soybean Soy Sauce
• Net Volume: 200ml (6.8 fl oz)
• Ingredients: Black soybeans (domestic Japan), wheat (domestic Japan), salt
• Allergens & Properties: Contains Soy, Wheat. Additive-free. No preservatives. No color additives.
• Shelf Life: Approx. 24 months (unopened)
• Storage: Cool, dark place; refrigerate after opening
• Producer Name: Yuasa Shoyu Co., Ltd. (Packaging is in Japanese.)
• Producer Location: Yuasa Town, Arida District, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan

Producer's Story

Yuasa, a small coastal town in Wakayama Prefecture, is recognized as the birthplace of Japanese soy sauce. It was here, in the 13th century, that a monk returning from China introduced a fermented soybean paste called kinzanji miso — and where local brewers, noticing the liquid that drained from the aging paste, began collecting and refining it into what became shoyu. The tradition never left. Today Yuasa's soy sauce production method holds GI protected status, and Yuasa Shoyu continues to brew in the town's original style: whole soybeans, wheat, salt, wooden barrels, and time. The Kiippon Kuromame — brewed from Tanba black soybeans prized since the Nara period for their size, sweetness, and depth — is the brewery's statement of what Yuasa soy sauce can be at its finest.

Flavor Profile

Black soybeans produce a soy sauce noticeably different from conventional yellow-soybean shoyu. The color is deeper, tending toward a rich reddish-brown with real depth. The aroma is complex and layered — the familiar savory note of fermented soy underlaid by something rounder and slightly sweeter, with a woody warmth from the barrel and a clean grain quality from the two years of aging. On the palate, the umami is full and prolonged, without the sharp salt edge that some soy sauces carry. The finish is clean, gently sweet, and genuinely satisfying — the kind of soy sauce that changes what you think soy sauce can taste like.

Cooking Ideas

The perfect dipping sauce for sashimi, sushi, and cold tofu (hiyayakko) — use alone or with a small amount of wasabi; drizzled over a piece of grilled fish or chicken in the final 30 seconds of cooking for a caramelized, deeply flavored glaze; a small splash added to braised dishes (nimono) for a depth that ordinary soy sauce cannot replicate; brushed onto yakitori and grilled rice balls (yaki onigiri) as a finishing coat; the foundation of teriyaki sauce when combined with mirin and sake — a completely different result from standard soy sauce versions.

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