this is a day in the life of a japanese
natto maker
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um
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this is kazu 27 years old living in
tokyo and he's just waking up for work
at the moment he's between apartments so
he's been living with his parents for
the last several months just until he's
able to find his new apartment luckily
his family lives in central tokyo which
makes his transition a bit more
comfortable
how long does it take for you to get
ready
oh and that's his mom
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so kaz is having a very traditional
japanese breakfast rice miso soup with
veggies and tofu nori seaweed and natto
fermented soybeans well balanced
nutritious and perfect for starting the
day on a light stomach
interestingly though many may think rice
is the go-to breakfast carb choice for
japanese but when questioned 56 of
japanese today answered that they tend
to choose bread over rice given the
typical workday in japan it seems only
natural for people who are in a morning
rush to save on time preparing a bowl of
rice and speaking of morning rush kaz's
dad who's in real estate has already
left for work today while his mom who
takes care of the home keeps him company
for breakfast apparently though these
days in japan stay-at-home mothers are
becoming less common as 70 return to
work after childbirth do you eat
breakfast every day
how is life
that's so nice of him
oh kaz is adding a raw egg to his natto
rice although raw eggs may seem strange
in other countries in japan eggs are
expected to also be in raw so there are
very strict sanitary regulations in
place during the production stage to
make it safe also before distributed
it's clean sterilized and generally
marked with a two-week exploration
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i think
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although kudzu currently lives in
central tokyo his workplace is located
on the outskirts of the metropolitan
area so he must commute first by train
and then by bus to get there a bit more
of a refreshing commute traveling in the
opposite direction from most commuters
and just before working at his current
job he worked as a freelance online
writer through one of his projects he
got to know the owner of his current
company at the time his now boss had
just acquired a natto company and was in
the process of rebuilding the business
kazu got along well with the boss and
was offered the job to head the
production side of the business
good morning everyone i'm back with
another day in life this one has been a
long time coming but we're finally here
luckily kazu should be coming on the bus
right now
good morning did you sleep well last
night
so kazu works at amakusanato a
specialized natto shop established in
2019 they craft a premium high quality
natto all 100
by hand a relatively young company with
only a few staff producing some of the
best handmade natto possible
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first thing he does in the morning like
many japanese salarymen is check his
email he is responsible for
communicating with various suppliers and
distributors such as supermarkets so he
tends to this first to ensure that all
orders are on schedule
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he still has some time before the store
opens so he makes use of it by checking
on the soybeans which have been soaking
in the water throughout the night so
what are you exactly checking for
natto aka fermented soybeans is probably
most known worldwide for its powerful
smell distinctive flavor and gooey
texture but the shop uniquely crafts our
natto with less smell and gooeyness
making it more palatable for customers
while still maintaining its superfood
and extremely nutritious qualities
regardless 85 of the japanese population
have come to enjoy natto's ultra unique
taste and texture including my
two-year-old son
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cool there's a little room it's called
mudo it's where the soybeans are
fermented to about 40 degrees at high
humidity the kitchen uses a method
called tsumibi hako meaning that the
heated charcoal is used to speed up the
fermentation process what are you doing
now
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apparently if the soybeans are over
fermented it creates a less than
pleasant smell so it needs to be
inspected by hand one by one were you
able to tell the difference in the smell
from the beginning
i guess that's the only way to master a
skill
after the soybeans finish the
fermentation in the charcoal heated room
it goes through another fermentation
process in the refrigerator
fermenting soybeans is a rather
sensitive process as healthy living
bacteria is used so it's critical that
the mudo is thoroughly cleaned each and
every time it's used this ensures that
the older bacteria doesn't remain in the
room helping produce a more consistent
product
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so it's just before 11am so it starts to
prepare opening up the shop
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wow the first customer is already here
since the shop creates specialized
premium natto flavors unlike the factory
produced ones found at the standard
japanese supermarket kazu explains the
customers recommended ways to eat each
natto product including the different
foods and sauces which would pair well
kind of like a natto sommelier for
example one of their natto products
pairs perfectly with corned beef and
another one with cheese
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[Laughter]
oh she brought a gift how nice
while he manages the story he also works
on the natto production he now wraps the
fully fermented natto into its final
packaging this process is also performed
by hand and each package is inspected
once again before it's offered to
customers
what kind of natto is that
foreign
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so it looks like kaz is going to be
doing this just for a little bit so
while he's doing this let's do what we
do and explore this place
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okay so this is the front of the store
looks like they got some beans over here
let's go check it out
this one is a green soybean from nigata
this one is a tiny round soybean from
yamagata and kudos and goku black
soybeans from hokkaido there are so many
different kinds no beans about it so i
guess those are beans i think over there
there's a refrigerator let's go and see
what's inside
i guess
it's what you would expect they have
renato in here this is the natto tare
and you got some mustard that's cool
kinda matches the tokyo merch oh there's
one more person hi what are you doing
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oh the other workers are here how long
have you been working here
while kazu works on the final products
the other workers prepare the soybeans
that he checked earlier this morning for
steaming the soaked soybeans can be
placed in a bag so that they can be
relocated into a pressure pot as special
wooden paper is inserted between the
bags to prevent the different colored
beans from bleeding into one another
apparently soybeans of the same size can
be placed in the same pot despite being
a different type and color
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oh a salesperson from the sauce company
they use is visiting it's still common
practice in japan for salespeople to
regularly visit shops to talk to their
customers as in japan much of businesses
foster through relationships and
maintaining them and it wouldn't be good
business matters to stop by your
customers office without bringing a gift
now the workers prepare the wrappers
which is a key piece when it comes to
their natto they use thinly sliced
wooden paper made of akamatsu japanese
red pine which helps remove the strong
smell of natto in fact akamatsu paper
was commonly used in the past by many
natto producers but due to its high cost
and time it takes to fold many natto
producers today have stopped using it
why do you wet the paper
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so unsurprisingly it is quite warm in
here they just steamed all of the natto
they took it out of the pressure cooker
and they're packing it all in these
wrappers
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so she's preparing the natokin bacteria
for the natto fermentation this is the
very ingredient which transforms the
soybeans into natto it's spread over the
soybeans which were steamed earlier
so why did you decide to work here
now he joins the team to help with the
natto production they add natto bacteria
twice once right after the soybeans are
steamed and then one more time after it
soaked in a bit
now kaju makes sure that every single
soybean is coated in the nataki at this
stage kazu inspects each soybean one by
one removing any odd or misshaped ones
now that the soybeans are completely
coated they work as a team to wrap it up
in the akamatsu wooden sheets
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so quiet in here
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now kazu takes a quick break before he
continues on with his work sometimes
though when managing the shop production
and customers he gets really busy and
forgets to take a break so it was just
you and the owner when the business
started
now he heats up the charcoal for the
mudo and while he watches the stove he
uses this time to chat with his
co-workers
by the way you and the owner have a very
similar hairstyle
so what do you do outside of work
what did you think
i don't know it's just crazy that we're
talking about it here oh you're all done
oh i guess the charcoal is ready now the
wrapped soybeans are brought into the
heated widow to speed up the first round
of fermentation
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oh it seems like they're receiving a
soybean delivery today soybeans are the
fundamental ingredient for natto so it's
critical that the shop maintain a
healthy relationship with their soybean
wholesaler depending on what area in
japan the soybeans are grown conditions
could vary significantly each year so
it's important that the shop are kept up
to date about the conditioning quality
of each bag so that they can adjust
their recipes accordingly
now kazu washes the soybeans and soaks
them for tomorrow's batch since a pot
only fits about three kilograms of
soybeans he has to plan on how many of
each type of soybean to wash in fact
soybeans are one of the most important
ingredients in japanese cuisine as 3.5
billion tons of soybeans are used every
year and it can be found in the most
common japanese ingredients such as tofu
soy sauce miso pineapple powder and of
course natto included every day in
japanese meals any time of the day so
what's the hardest part about making
nattona
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prepares more charcoal to add inside of
the mural to maintain a consistent room
temperature
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apparently charcoal helps remove the
distinctive natto smell hence they use
it in the middle
oh i should also mention that the shop
uses a full pot of hot water to help
steam the room and keep the humidity
high
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now that all of the natto production
tasks are done he once again checks his
email and watches the storefront all
part of a typical day for him
so how was today's sales
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yay finally done
oh he's back nearby his home station
tonight he's having dinner and drinks at
a local japanese izakaya with some
friends he's known since he was a kid
growing up in the area
i guess he's the first one who arrived
aka regular customer here since i'm back
in the day
so how long have you known cousins
wow that's crazy how old is this
restaurant
congratulations
i guess kazu is like their son
finally everyone is here
apparently his friend is a rapper hey
can you wrap something
up so it looks like kaz is going to be
here until nine and then probably go
home and then go to sleep at 12. but
that's pretty much a day in life of a
japanese and natto worker if you guys
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