Have you heard of a product called "Transparent Soy Sauce"? Although it has a strong flavor, for some reason it is colorless and transparent like water. This soy sauce is produced by "Fundodai," a long-established soy sauce manufacturer in Kumamoto, whose president and CEO is Osamu Yamamura, who we will introduce in this article. Why was Yamamura, a former securities man who saved Fundodai at a turning point in management, appointed as president? And Yamamura's turbulent life is also interesting.
A former securities man took over the business from the Okubo family, a prominent local family.
Fundodai began as a money exchange business and sake brewery run by the Okubo family, a prominent family in Kumamoto, from the end of the Sengoku period. In 1869, the 11th head of the family changed the business model to manufacturing soy sauce and miso, and the company has long been a beloved condiment manufacturer among locals. However, in order to adapt to the changing times, in 2014 the company merged with Goyo, a venture aiming for sixth-sector industrialization, and Yamamura joined the business.
After graduating from university, Yamamura joined Nomura Securities and worked in sales. After 10 years, he started to hear more and more about being poached, and he began to become interested in other industries.
"I was thinking that it would be great if I could go to a foreign company next and get off to a good start. At that time, a classmate from my seminar who was supposed to have got a job at a foreign company somehow had a business card of a factory manager at a mold company. When I asked him about it, he told me he had moved to a mold venture company. He invited me to come and see what he was doing because he was doing some really interesting things, and that's how I ended up moving to the mold company."
Heaven and hell awaited me when I changed jobs to a completely different industry
A mold is a general term for the metal containers needed to mass-produce industrial products, and is an essential formwork for manufacturing.
Mr. Yamamura joined INKS, a company that developed its own software that allowed users to easily design and manufacture molds using 3D CAD (computer-aided design). Since its founding in 1990, the company has been called a revolutionary in the mold industry and has been attracting attention as a company with the potential to dramatically transform the mold industry.
"The owner-president at the time said, 'Molds are like the cervical vertebrae in humans. Without molds, you can't make things, but there is a strong image of us being a subcontractor. That's why we're going to strengthen the mold industry and the manufacturing industry!' I was really attracted to those words."
Inx grew at an astonishing speed, but due to poor management and the effects of the Lehman Shock, the company went into civil rehabilitation in 2009. Amid the sudden turmoil, full-time employees, including Yamamura, worked hard to revive the company, and in 2011, Yamamura retired.
Moving to Kumamoto with no idea where to go, with the mission of becoming a farmer
Freed from the daily grind of trying to turn the company around, he spent a year without a job, traveling abroad and moving to Shanghai.
"At the time, I was complaining to a senior colleague at Nomura Securities, who was running his own investment fund, about the air pollution in China caused by PM2.5. He happily suggested that I go somewhere with cleaner air, and as he wanted to get into the food-related business next, he invited me to start up an agricultural production corporation in Kyushu."
It was also the time when he started thinking about his next career, and he decided to move to Kumamoto with the mission of "Becoming a farmer!" However, when he got to Kumamoto, he realized how difficult it was to start up an agricultural production corporation.
An agricultural production corporation is a corporation that is authorized under the Agricultural Land Act to acquire farmland for the purpose of agricultural management. In order for Yamamura to become a farmer, he had to either already own farmland or be a third-generation farmer.
"When I told my senior colleague that it would be difficult to become an agricultural production corporation, he said that's why he sent me to Kumamoto to find a way. I had no choice but to find a way, and I learned that with local understanding, something might work. I approached the agricultural committee several times and was able to accomplish my mission, but at the same time, the decision was made to merge the business with Fundodai."


Fundodai's antenna shop "Demachi Hisaya" in Asakusa, Tokyo
The struggle to revive Fundodai, a beloved local restaurant
In 2014, Yamamura joined the effort to rebuild Fundodai.
"First, we tried to turn the company around by bringing in a manager from outside, but that didn't work out at all, and so in 2016, a senior colleague who had promoted the business integration of Fundodai became president. However, the situation remained tough. Fundodai's losses continued to grow, and one of the investors, unable to bear the sight of it, made a gentle but stern suggestion: 'There's no point in continuing to invest like this. You should appoint a full-time president and think about how to make a profit from your core business.' They then asked me, who was familiar with the series of events that had taken place up to that point, if I would take on the role of president, and after some deliberation, I accepted the offer."
The company is expected to turn a profit within three years, and Yamamura will take over as president in 3, provided that support is provided during that time.
He didn't have a specific plan for how to turn things around, but he was heartbroken to see the employees being tossed around by the frequent changes in management and becoming discouraged. So he thought that the best way to cheer them up was to develop a new product that combined Fundodai's technology.


[Left] "Transparent Soy Sauce" made clear using a special technique, 100ml, 500 yen (excluding tax) [Right] "Heisei" made with Kyushu-grown soybeans and wheat, with red sake and wasanbon added, 100ml, 500 yen (excluding tax)
"First, I proposed to my employees that we make a high-end soy sauce from Kyushu. The theme was to make a soy sauce that would be stocked at Isetan Shinjuku. But my employees said, "We'll be laughed at for making high-end Kyushu soy sauce!" Kyushu soy sauce is called a mixed soy sauce, and it contains amino acids and sugar, so people from Kyushu shy away from it. I believe that Kyushu soy sauce pairs well with Kyushu ingredients, and that we should be proud of Kyushu culture. That idea was the basis for the creation of "Heisei," a high-end, sweet soy sauce that is additive-free and uses only Kyushu ingredients. We have achieved our goal of having it stocked at Isetan Shinjuku Main Store."
At the same time, development of "transparent soy sauce" began.
"Alongside Kyushu's high-end soy sauce, we also considered developing a special soy sauce using our company's technology. During a discussion with our employees, one female employee mentioned that she thought it might be possible to remove the color of soy sauce."
Soy sauce produces alcohol during the fermentation process, but Fundodai has patented technology to remove it, which they say is the key to producing clear soy sauce.
"We knew that with our technology we could make it clear, but maintaining that transparency was even more difficult than making it as clear as water. Over time, clear soy sauce will gradually change color. To prevent this from happening, we went through a process of trial and error in selecting the ingredients to use in the final blend."
The clear soy sauce that the company created as a team of employees garnered attention overseas and was a game changer in the culinary industry. These products led to more media appearances and stable business performance.
This is a masterpiece: "Wasabi Oil" made only from real wasabi.
Fundodai's new product development continues.
"For Japanese people, it's easy to make wasabi soy sauce by dissolving the right amount of wasabi in soy sauce, but people from overseas don't know the balance between soy sauce and wasabi. So we continued developing it, as people wanted a soy sauce with wasabi already dissolved in it, but because wasabi is water-soluble, once opened, both the aroma and flavor disappear within three days. Even after three and a half years of research, we weren't able to create a product that we were satisfied with."
Kumamoto has a large production of rapeseed oil and is home to many oil refineries. When Yamamura spoke to the president of one of the oil refineries about his idea for wasabi soy sauce, he received the suggestion that oil might be able to lock in the wasabi. After two years of work, he developed "Wasabi Oil."


"Wasabi Oil" made with high-quality rapeseed oil and real wasabi, 45g, 1,000 yen (excluding tax)
"We don't use Western horseradish, only real wasabi, so it has a strong spiciness, but the flavor is so good that most people who try it buy it. It's a true masterpiece. When you combine it with our "Heisei" variety, the combination of spiciness and sweetness is really delicious, so I recommend it."
It's true that the spiciness and aroma are different from regular commercially available tube-type wasabi, and it has an addictive taste.
Recently, they have developed "Foam-Clear Soy Sauce," a mousse made from clear soy sauce, "Foam-Sweet Soy Sauce," a mousse made from Kyushu soy sauce, as well as "Leaf," a sheet of soy sauce and miso.
"This product is aimed at professionals rather than ordinary households. By turning soy sauce and miso into mousses and sheets, we believe it will broaden the possibilities for cooking, and we believe there will also be a demand for it overseas."
It's a culture shock for Japanese people to see soy sauce, a staple in the kitchen, transformed into something they can enjoy, but the rich ideas behind it are impressive. Yamamura says that the basis of their development capabilities is the well-trained palates of their employees, who are originally from Kumamoto, an agricultural prefecture.


[Left] "Foam-Clear Soy Sauce" made from clear soy sauce in a mousse. [Right] "Foam-Sweet Soy Sauce" made from Kyushu soy sauce in a mousse.


[Left] Soy sauce "Leaf-Soy Sauce" [Right] Miso "Leaf-Miso"
The potential of seasonings produced in Kumamoto, a region rich in ingredients
"Kumamoto is the fifth largest agricultural prefecture in Japan in terms of agricultural production. I don't think there are many prefectures with such an abundance of ingredients, from the sea to the mountains to livestock. That's why people who grew up here have such refined palates. Many of our employees are from Kumamoto, and they all have excellent palates. We often receive compliments from consumers saying that our products are not too assertive, but still bring out the flavor of the ingredients and go well with anything, and I believe it is their refined palates that support these products."
Immediately after he became president, there were some employees who were not too fond of Yamamura, who came from a different industry, but before long, the employees who sympathized with his hard-working attitude began to trust and build bonds with him.
"I always feel a sense of responsibility about how to pass on Fundodai, a company that has long been rooted in the local community and is beloved by the local community. The soy sauce industry is made up of many long-established companies that have been passed down from generation to generation, so it's rare to find someone in my position. I haven't yet found the answer to what I can contribute, coming from a different industry."
Since assuming his new position as president, Mr. Yamamura has been challenging himself with new reforms, such as expanding overseas markets and developing new products. His ambitions continue. As Fundodai continues to grow, we are curious to see where Mr. Yamamura's next stage will be.


Osamu Yamamura
Born in Tokyo in 1969. Graduated from Keio University. Joined Nomura Securities in 1992, where he was in charge of branch retail sales and corporate sales. Retired in 2002. Joined Incs Co., Ltd. in 2002, and retired in 2011. Became Managing Director of Goyo Foods Co., Ltd. in 2013, and assumed his current position in 2018.
Mio Shimamura
Representative, publisher and editor-in-chief of Premium Japan. After working at a foreign advertising agency, he held positions in charge of marketing and PR at top brands such as Walt Disney, Harry Winston, and Tiffany & Co. In 2013, he founded Russo Co., Ltd. He handles PR for various top brands. Because his parents' home was an environment that taught Japanese culture such as tea ceremony and kimono dressing, he acquired the business rights to Premium Japan in 2017 and established Premium Japan Co., Ltd. in 2018.
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