Natto Audio Guide

Welcome to the World of Natto

Welcome to the world of natto. On the breakfast tray at a traditional inn sits a small square container. Open the lid, stir it with your chopsticks, and thin white threads rise up in a soft tangle. This is natto — fermented soybeans, one of Japan's most iconic traditional foods. Its distinctive smell and sticky texture may give some newcomers pause at first. Yet for the people of Japan, it is one of the most familiar of all breakfast dishes, spooned over warm rice, and it has long been treasured as a gentle, nourishing health food. Especially in the northern regions, the way it is enjoyed varies from household to household and place to place. Behind those sticky strands lies the wisdom of Japan's fermentation culture — the art of borrowing the power of beans and microbes to preserve and enrich food. For a traveler, it may be a taste well worth a brave first bite, and one you will not soon forget. Over the next hour or so, let's trace the story hidden behind this stringy dish. Stop wherever a shop catches your eye, and listen at your own pace. To begin, let me tell you where those sticky threads came from — with the history of natto.