The bus is heading to “Hishio no Sato.” This is an area where there were once as many as 400 soy sauce breweries around town, and many remain today.

You can’t talk about Shodoshima's soy sauce without getting into salt. Shodoshima has a long history of boiling seawater to make salt and delivering it to the capitals of Nara and Kyoto. They came up with a technique that increased their salt production. This involved pouring seawater into saltpans, letting it dry, raking up the sand, and repeating the process over again. It was a labor-intensive job, especially under the hot summer sun.

Mass production of salt nationwide created a surplus during the Edo Period, which gave way to the production of soy sauce. Soy sauce was first made in Japan about 800 years ago by a monk who learned the method from China, and he in turn taught it to the people of Yuasa, Wakayama Prefecture.

It was around 400 years ago when soy sauce came to Shodoshima. Troops who came to cut stone for Osaka Castle brought some novel black saucy seasoning along with them -- soy sauce. At that time, Yuasa's soy sauce was said to be the best in Japan. The people of Shodoshima were enchanted by their black sauce and some even went to Yuasa to learn how to make it. Shodoshima already had a surplus of salt and the climate was suitable for fermentation. They also had a port for unloading raw materials, giving them all the right conditions for producing soy sauce on a grand scale.

As many as 400 soy sauce breweries were built in the Meiji Period to answer to the high demand. Customers began coming by steamship to Uchinomi Bay, a calm shoreline with surprisingly deep waters at 20 meters, allowing even large ships to dock there. Marukin Soy Sauce Brewery was the leading producer on the island thanks to their efforts in securing customers in Kyoto and Osaka.

The factories and warehouses in Hishio no Sato built in the Meiji Era are still in operation to this day, stained black from soy sauce bacteria. A fungus called kōji mold is essential for making soy sauce, but it’s actually the microorganisms that live in the building walls that deepen the flavor. That’s why each brewery has a different taste, depending on the building’s microorganisms. The blacker the roof the better the soy sauce, or so they say.

How do you make soy sauce? The paste of soy sauce is made by adding salt to fermented rice or beans. In the factories, large wooden barrels standing up to two meters high are lined up in a row filled with the soy mash. Some unlucky soul has the exhausting task of stirring up the mash from the bottom of the barrel using an oar-like pole. Whatever you do, don’t fall in! They say if you fall into one of the barrels, the smell of soy sauce will linger with you for a week.

Shodoshima is also known for “tsukudani,” which is seafood or seaweed simmered in sweetened soy sauce. A restaurant named Ittoku invented tsukudani during the post-war food shortage by cooking sweet potato vines in soy sauce. Another Shodoshima specialty that pairs well with soy sauce is “somen” noodles.

There are three major somen production centers in Japan -- Miwa in Nara, Banshu or “Ibo no Ito” in Hyogo, and “Shima no Hikari” in Shodoshima, Kagawa. Somen production began in Shodoshima around 400 years ago when locals passed Miwa on their way back from visiting Ise Shrine.

You only need three ingredients to make somen -- wheat, water, and salt. We’ve already established the fact that Shodoshima has a surplus of salt, but just how much they use to make somen is a locally kept secret. After kneading the flour with salted water, the dough is stretched carefully to make one long strip. While stretching the dough, a thin coating of sesame oil is brushed on, a unique trait of Shima no Hikari somen. Sesame oil prevents the noodles from oxidizing, which preserves the delicious taste. It also gives Shodoshima’s somen a distinct yellow coloring.

Next, craftsmen stretch the dough by hand into thin pieces and hang them out to dry under the sun, with the wind blowing down from Kankakei River. Shodoshima's somen noodles are said to be so thin that they can pass through a needle’s eye.

Shodoshima’s somen noodles are made in small, individually run factories. Products that meet certain standards through the Somen Association are labeled “Shima no Hikari” and the rest are labeled “Shodoshima hand-pulled somen,” but we encourage you to try them both and compare for yourself. If you ever make it to Nagasaki, please try Shimabara Somen, which was said to have been produced by Shodoshima migrants.

We’re on our way to Hishio no Sato. You might be struck with an overwhelming aroma of soy sauce the moment you step off the bus, but let that be something to look forward to until we arrive at our destination.