History
According to the record of year 700, the ancestor of miso, meaning
soybean paste seems to be called in a similar way "Misho".
The material of the"misho" is soybean, the microorganism of rice,
wheat, salt, and liquor. During the Kamakura period, the bean of miso
is made from the soybean and the salt in the temple of Zen.
The soybean became a soybean paste because of the chemical break
down by the malted rice bacterium that exist in air. Next, the soybean
becomes grain and remains. Buddhist priests mashed soybeans in the
mortar, and put them into the soup. It is said that this was the
beginning of the miso soup.
According to the record written by the ancient people, the samurai
was drinking the miso soup in the Kamakura period. However, only
the priests and the samurais, people of special positions, were able to
drink the miso soup. As the production of soybean increases in the
Muromachi period, ordinary people were able to drink the miso soup, too.
Barrels were developed in the Muromachi period in order to sell in the
market. Long pieces of wood were arranged side by side, and fixed
by bamboo bands. Miso were packed into the barrels until it became
delicious and undergo fermentation. In the period of civil wars the samurais
brought the miso with them to the battlefield.
In the Edo period, the regions, where rice were richly harvested, adds
the soybean to rice in order to make rice soybean paste. Moreover, it became
popular as a side dish in meal times. Until about 1950's, many people made
miso at home. However after the 1960's, as the industrial development of
soybean paste improves, many people began to buy it instead to make it
at home.
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