East Chiba · ChoshiNo.942★★Open in map →

Choshi Soy Sauce

— Chiba's other brewing town, at the Tone river mouth

foodOff the trail — and worth it

Chiba brews more soy sauce than any other prefecture, and Choshi is where half of that story starts. Two houses founded in the 1600s still work at the mouth of the Tone, and one of them opens its floor to visitors by reservation.

FromTokyo Station
~2 hrLimited express, then a 7-min walk
Get off atChoshi Station (JR Sobu Line)
On foot
Choshi Soy Sauce

Directions ↗

The sweet spot

Noda is the name people know, because that is where Kikkoman is. Choshi built the same trade at the same time on the other river, and then stayed a working port rather than turning into a visitor street. That is why the brewing here is something you book into rather than stroll past.

Where it is

50 more notes in Chiba · open the map →

What to look for — in walking order

Higeta's Choshi sitethe older of the two houses, west of the station, its archive room closed for the time being
Nakanocho Stationa small stop on the Choshi Electric Railway, platform and depot set against the soy works
Yamasa visitor centrethe reservation-only tour building in Kitaogawacho, with a film, a walking route and free parking
The koji room and mash cellarsthe weekday outdoor route past the raw-material silos, the koji chamber and the moromi vats
The exhibition cornerold brewing tools and company records, with a touch-screen wall for the stages you cannot enter

How to actually get there

Book the Yamasa tour before you travel — the online form closes three days ahead.
Tokyo Station → Choshi Station (JR Sobu Line limited express Shiosai, about 1 hour 50 minutes).
Choshi Station → Yamasa visitor centre, Kitaogawacho (walk east, about 7 minutes).
Afterwards, walk back past Nakanocho station on the Choshi Electric Railway, whose platform and depot sit against the works.

Limited express Shiosai from Tokyo: Tokyo Station →(JR Sobu Line limited express Shiosai, about 1 hour 50 minutes)→ Choshi Station, then a short walk east to the Yamasa visitor centre in Kitaogawacho. Sobu Line rapid services also reach Choshi without the limited-express supplement, taking longer. The Choshi Electric Railway starts from the same station if you would rather ride one stop to Nakanocho.
Return from Choshi Station: The Shiosai runs to a timetable rather than a frequent interval, so check the departure board when you arrive rather than on the way out. Sobu Line rapid trains give you a later option at the cost of time. Since the last tour slot begins in the afternoon, an earlier train out leaves room for the town as well as the brewery.

Directions from my location (Google Maps) ↗

About the place

Choshi stands where the Tone river reaches the Pacific, at the eastern tip of the Kanto plain. The city's own account of itself turns on three things — the Kuroshio current, the river and the peninsula shape — and the first keeps the climate warm and damp all year, with little gap between summer and winter. That suits the koji mould and the yeasts that turn soybean and wheat into shoyu. The river did the rest: barrels went upstream to Edo, raw materials came back down. Two firms still brew in the town, and their works stand a few minutes from the station.

How to enjoy it

Weekday slots run about an hour — roughly twenty minutes of film, then about thirty minutes outside — and start six times between nine and three, with a break over the middle of the day. Saturdays and public holidays are the film only, about half the length. Book first and build the rest of the day around the slot you are given.

Background & history

Higeta traces itself to 1616, when Tanaka Genba began brewing a tamari-style sauce here. Hamaguchi Gihei came from Hirogawa in Kishu, next to Yuasa where Japanese soy sauce began, and founded Yamasa in 1645, drawn by a coast whose climate he found close to home. Both houses brewed for Edo rather than for the local market, and the thick, sharp koikuchi style they built became the sauce that Edo cooking was written around — the sushi glaze, the grilled eel, the tempura and soba dips.

Before you go

Cash: The Yamasa tour is listed as free on the company's own site, and it is fully by reservation — the online form closes three days before the visit date. The visitor centre has a free car park. Nothing else along the route needs a ticket beyond the trains.
Good to know: The Yamasa centre is closed on Sundays and over the summer and new-year holidays, and the Saturday and public-holiday version is the film only, without the outdoor walk. Higeta has announced that its factory tour, its archive room and its shop are suspended for the time being, and says a restart will be posted on its site. Check both companies before you set out.
Another way: By car, the works are about an hour on Route 356 from the Sawara-Katori interchange on the Higashi-Kanto Expressway. The visitor centre has parking for twenty-five vehicles at no charge. From Tokyo Yaesu bus terminal, the highway coach to Choshi takes about 2 hours 30 minutes.
After you get off: From JR Choshi Station, walk east about 7 minutes to the Yamasa visitor centre in Kitaogawacho. If you would rather ride, the Choshi Electric Railway's Nakanocho stop is one station along, about 3 minutes on foot from the centre.