But even so, we still don't know much about koji.
Miso, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar, sake, shochu...
The deliciousness of Japan has been cultivated through koji.
Koji brings out the potential of ingredients.
Now, a growing number of people around the world are fascinated by koji.
I want to spread the appeal of koji to the world.
That's why we are starting "KOJI THE KITCHEN".
Beyond borders and images,
Why not go on a journey to discover koji and unknown deliciousness?
Bringing the wonders of koji to kitchens around the world.
For over 600 years since our founding in the Muromachi period, Kojiya Sanzaemon has been providing brewing manufacturers across the country with starter koji, the raw material for koji, the foundation of Japan's fermentation culture, and continuing to work with koji.
The traditional culture of "koji," which utilizes the properties of the various types of koji fungus that live in Japan, has seen a definite boom in recent years.
With the development of fermentation communities based on people who make their own rice koji, the appearance of shops and cafes selling fermented foods, and the rise of the amazake boom as a "drinkable IV drip," koji is becoming a movement that is going beyond being just a raw material for making products such as soy sauce, miso, and sake.
And in world-famous restaurants such as Noma , koji-making and fermentation have become new culinary techniques, elevated to a gourmet identity, and various ways to utilize koji starter are being discovered one after another, expanding its possibilities in every direction.
Based on this background, KOJI THE KITCHEN was launched by Kojiya Sanzaemon as a creative and exploratory project for a food culture centered on koji starter.
In the four fields of Art, Science, Design, and Engineering, ideas generated from various industries will be combined with Kojiya Sanzaemon's knowledge of koji starter to bring out and unveil new appeals of koji.
Through this project, together with all of our colleagues who share an interest in the possibilities of fermentation and koji, we will create and explore a new food culture using koji, and build a future base for fermentation culture starting from the Higashi Mikawa region.