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We Tried the 6 Best Japanese Soy Sauces in 2023 (Seasoning Expert-Reviewed)

Whether it’s because you love Japanese food and want to be as authentic as possible or you live in Japan and need help navigating the supermarket, soy sauce is essential to Japanese cuisine. While you might be familiar with brands like Kikkoman, there are plenty of other brands and also several regional craft soy sauces in Japan, and with all these options, it might leave you wondering which one is really the most delicious soy sauce.

So this time around, we compared the best-selling soy sauces from e-commerce sites popular in Japan, like Amazon, Rakuten, and Yahoo! Shopping, and tested them all.

We tested each soy sauce for the following:
  1. Taste
  2. Aroma
  3. Compatibility with various foods

This is how we tested and found the most exceptional Japanese soy sauces. We'll also give some tips on how to choose the best soy sauce for you, so make sure to keep reading!
Last updated 06/15/2023
MICHIKO
Expert
Professional Seasoning Sommelier
MICHIKO

MICHIKO is a professional seasoning sommelier and is the Executive Director of the Seasoning Sommelier Association of Japan, where she actively hosts lectures and corporate seminars. In addition to being a seasoning sommelier, she's also a vegetable sommelier, a curry meister, and a nutritional and environmental education fragrance expert.

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Table of Contents

Let’s Go Over Some Soy Sauce Basics

Let’s Go Over Some Soy Sauce Basics

Generally speaking, soy sauce is made from soybeans, wheat, salt brine, and alcohol, which is used as a preservative. A seed mold is added to the soybean and wheat mixture and allowed to mature, resulting in koji, similar to malt. The salt brine is added in later, completing the fermentation process.


The seed mold is not usually included in the ingredients list, but it’s essential to the art of soy sauce brewing, and most brands will have a proprietary mold. Temperature and humidity also influence how soy sauce turns out, so most factories will have strict controls in place.


There are two main ways soy sauce is brewed; one is the traditional honjozo method and the other is the kongo or mixed method. The kongo method adds liquid amino acids and sweeteners to the soy sauce to bring out more umami, and you should try it if you like deep, complex flavors. On the other hand, stick with honjozo if you enjoy the straightforward taste of classic soy sauce.

Use a Different Soy Sauce for Different Foods

Use a Different Soy Sauce for Different Foods

While most of us just have the one bottle of Kikkoman that we use for everything when cooking Asian cuisine, did you know that some soy sauces pair better with certain dishes


Similar to how you'd pair wine with specific dishes, soy sauce is best enjoyed when paired with the appropriate dishes. There are all kinds of soy sauces that match different dishes, including not just sashimi, tofu, and other typical Japanese dishes, but also some combinations that might surprise you, like toast and ice cream!


Note that throughout this article, we'll be using words like umami and dashi to explain certain things. If you're unfamiliar with these terms, here's a brief primer.


  • Umami - Often described as savoriness, and is one of the five basic tastes, identified by a Japanese professor Kikunae Ikeda in 1908.
  • Dashi - Japanese for stock, usually made from seafood, and often used to add or enhance umami.

How to Choose Japanese Soy Sauce – Buying Guide

We’ll get into how we tested and compared all the bottles of soy sauce, but before that, we want to introduce four things you should look out for when picking out a Japanese soy sauce.

① You Can’t Go Wrong With the Standard Kikkoman, but Know There Are Six Different Types of Soy Sauce

You Can’t Go Wrong With the Standard Kikkoman, but Know There Are Six Different Types of Soy Sauce
There are six major types of soy sauce: dark, sweet, double-brewed, tamari, light and white. It goes without saying that all of these different soy sauces taste different. 

Most soy sauces taste pretty good, both when you cook them and when you use them as a dip or sauce. But if you take time to consider how and in what dishes you usually use soy sauce and then choose a sauce that’s especially suited to that purpose, you’ll likely discover new sides to the seasoning you’d never even imagined.


For example, soy sauce that is sweet and dark in color will not only deepen the flavor of braised and stewed foods, but also give them a beautiful glaze. Savory and fragrant soy sauce enhances the natural flavors of grilled foods. White or light soy sauces will add saltiness to your food without disrupting the flavors of your ingredients, making them perfect for milder dishes.


In our tests, we found that the standard dark Kikkoman soy sauce works for most situations, but if you want to find the best soy sauce to pair with your food, remember the following six types.

Dark Soy Sauce Is a Well-Rounded Soy Sauce That Everyone Should Have

Dark Soy Sauce Is a Well-Rounded Soy Sauce That Everyone Should Have

Dark soy sauce has a good balance of salinity and sweetness and is the most common type of soy sauce available in Japan.


Dark soy sauces pair well with most types of food, so if you don't know what to get, this is always a good place to start.

Sweet Soy Sauce Is Salty and Sweet, and Is a Staple in the Kyushu Region

Sweet Soy Sauce Is Salty and Sweet, and Is a Staple in the Kyushu Region

As the name implies, sweet soy sauce is sweeter than it is salty. Although it pairs well with all kinds of foods, similar to dark soy sauce, since this soy sauce is already sweet, you won't need to add any extra sugar to your dish to create authentic Japanese flavors.


In our tests, we found that sweet soy sauce pairs well with simmered dishes. You can make a sweet and salty simmered dish with just the bottle of sweet soy sauce. Additionally, you can brush some sweet soy sauce onto onigiri rice balls and grill them to make a sweet and salty snack.

MICHIKO
Professional Seasoning SommelierMICHIKO

Sweet soy sauce used to be exclusive to the Kyushu and Hokuriku regions but is now readily available in the Kanto region.


Additionally, sweet soy sauce that used to be sold in the Kanto region wasn't very sweet, but in recent years, they've been replaced by sweeter, more authentic sweet soy sauces.

Double-Brewed and Tamari Soy Sauces Are Rich and Intense in Flavor

Double-Brewed and Tamari Soy Sauces Are Rich and Intense in Flavor

Double-brewed and tamari soy sauce have strong flavors and can suppress the fishy smell found in seafood. These soy sauces also pair excellently with marbled steaks like wagyu, adding extra flavors. They also pair surprisingly well with ice cream and toast, drawing out rich flavors.


In our tests, we found that these soy sauces were particularly praised for their aromas. They have a strong, salty, and satisfying smell, and are great for those who really want to enjoy the flavor of the soy sauce itself.

MICHIKO
Professional Seasoning SommelierMICHIKO

Double-brewed and tamari soy sauce have strong umami, or savoriness, and can remove the fishy smell from seafood. They're thicker in consistency, making them easier to use with raw fish, and are sometimes called sashimi soy sauce


The umami found in these soy sauces pair well with the umami found in fish, and complement each other well. If you like sashimi, consider these soy sauces.

Light and White Soy Sauces Are Mild and Refreshing

Light and White Soy Sauces Are Mild and Refreshing

Light and white soy sauces have a sharp saltiness and a refreshing aftertaste. These soy sauces don't get in the way of the flavors of your ingredients, while still adding the fragrance of soy sauce.


Since these soy sauces have a very pale color, they can add flavor to your foods without changing the color too much.

② For the Health-Conscious, Consider Low-Sodium or Organic JAS-Certified Products

For the Health-Conscious, Consider Low-Sodium or Organic JAS-Certified Products

If you're trying to reduce your sodium intake, consider low-sodium soy sauce. Low-sodium soy sauces are required to only have nine grams of sodium or less for every 100 grams of soy sauce, or 0.3 ounces of salt or less in 3.5 ounces of soy sauce, which is half of the standard amount of salt found in normal soy sauce.


However, to make up for the loss in umami, some low-sodium soy sauces will mix in preservatives and other chemical additives, so if you’re worried (and can read Japanese), scan the ingredients list for anything fishy.


Additionally, if you're looking for organic soy sauce, consider a soy sauce that uses soybeans that have been certified organic by the Japan Agricultural Standard (JAS). These products will have the Organic JAS stamp on the label, making it easy to recognize.

MICHIKO
Professional Seasoning SommelierMICHIKO

There are many ways to reduce the amount of sodium in soy sauce, but major manufacturers will usually remove the salt from regular soy sauce while leaving the flavors and umami. If you're looking for a flavorful low sodium soy sauce, I recommend trying one from a major brand like Kikkoman first.

③ Consider the Type of Packaging It Comes In

Consider the Type of Packaging It Comes In

Major Japanese soy sauce manufacturers like Kikkoman have recently shifted their main products to bottles which form an airtight seal each time you close them. While they aren't available in large sizes, they excel at keeping soy sauce fresh and can be used to pour soy sauce directly from the bottle, making them great for those who live alone or don't use soy sauce very frequently.


For the freshest soy sauce flavor, consider soy sauces that come in a glass bottle. Compared to plastic bottles or cartons, soy sauce in glass bottles won't absorb any smells and is less prone to oxidizing. However, soy sauce in large bottles needs to be transferred to a smaller soy sauce bottle or dispenser before it's used.

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6 Best Japanese Soy Sauces

Here are our six favorite soy sauces, which we tested for flavor, aroma, and how well they pair with foods in certain dishes.
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Key features
1

Kaneyo Shoyu

Light Soy Sauce

Kaneyo Shoyu Light Soy Sauce 1枚目

Slightly Sweet and Easy to Use

2

Inoue Shoyu

Inoue Traditional Soy Sauce

Inoue Shoyu Inoue Traditional Soy Sauce 1枚目

Strong and Rich Flavor, Best Served with Tofu

3

Kikkoman

Tokusen Marudaizu Soy Sauce

Kikkoman Tokusen Marudaizu Soy Sauce 1枚目

A Standard, Versatile Soy Sauce

4

Nibishi Shoyu

Tokusen Umakuchi Soy Sauce

Nibishi Shoyu Tokusen Umakuchi Soy Sauce 1枚目

Sweet and Salty Flavor Great With Simmered Dishes

5

Ichibiki

Cho Tokusen Sashimi Tame Bottle

Ichibiki Cho Tokusen Sashimi Tame Bottle 1枚目

Fragrant Soy Sauce That Pairs Well With Sashimi

6

Marumata Shoten

Organic Tamari Soy Sauce

Marumata Shoten Organic Tamari Soy Sauce 1枚目

Organic Soy Sauce Made From Fragrant Aged Soybeans

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No.1

Kaneyo ShoyuLight Soy Sauce

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Reference price
$26.50

Slightly Sweet and Easy to Use

Kaneyo Shoyu's Light Soy Sauce is a versatile soy sauce made traditionally in the Noto Peninsula region of Ishikawa Prefecture.


This soy sauce has a slightly sweet, appetizing fragrance. When tasted, we noticed its sharp saltiness immediately followed by sweetness. However, it's worth noting that this sweetness wasn't as rich as sweet soy sauces and was fairly easy to use.


This soy sauce highlighted the flavors of the tofu when paired. It also complemented our simmered radish well, enhancing the sweetness of the root vegetable.

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No.2

Inoue ShoyuInoue Traditional Soy Sauce

Strong and Rich Flavor, Best Served with Tofu

Inoue Traditional Soy Sauce from Inoue Shoyu is a dark soy sauce that offers a mild and refreshing taste and is known for its rich aroma and flavor.

It's gentle on the palate, but has a salty taste that is typical of soy sauce and the flavor lingers in the mouth, and also had a fragrant, aged scent.

It paired well with tuna sashimi as well as simmered daikon radish, but it was exceptional with tofu, where the mild taste of soy sauce enhanced the flavor and aroma of the dish.

Some testers commented that it has the taste of old-fashioned dark soy sauce, which is ideal for those who want to enjoy a straightforward, standard soy sauce or for those who prefer a soy sauce with rich flavors.

No.3

KikkomanTokusen Marudaizu Soy Sauce

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Reference price
$41.07

A Standard, Versatile Soy Sauce

Kikkoman's Tokusen Marudaizu Soy Sauce uses 100% whole soybeans and is aged slowly during the brewing process to fully extract the umami of the soybeans.

The soy sauce has the gentle taste of whole soybeans and a mild saltiness. This is a standard soy sauce that has no lingering aftertaste with a slightly fermented fragrance.

It paired excellently with tofu but, but where it really shone was with sashimi, where it brought out a unique, strong flavor while eliminating the smell of the raw fish.

This versatile soy sauce can be used for many kinds of dishes and is a must-have for every household.

No.4

Nibishi ShoyuTokusen Umakuchi Soy Sauce

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Reference price
$5.24

Sweet and Salty Flavor Great With Simmered Dishes

Nibishi Shoyu's Tokusen Umakuchi Soy Sauce is a dark soy sauce that has noticeable umami and sweetness. This soy sauce is popular with those from Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands, where sweeter soy sauces are more popular.

At first, we tasted the saltiness and umami, but what followed was a sweet taste that slowly spread in our mouths. Its fragrance was also sweet and savory, whetting our appetites.

It was great with tuna sashimi and simmered daikon radish, with one tester commenting that the simmered dish soaked up the flavor so well and brought out the sweetness of the radish with this one seasoning so you don't really need to add sugar to the dish with this soy sauce.

The soy sauce is still relatively light and adds just the right amount of sweetness without being too much, making it a great option for those who want a slightly sweet soy sauce.

No.5

IchibikiCho Tokusen Sashimi Tame Bottle

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Reference price
$9.06

Fragrant Soy Sauce That Pairs Well With Sashimi

Ichibiki's Cho Tokusen Sashimi Tame Bottle is a soy sauce with intense, rich flavors and deep umami. Not only does this pair with sashimi, but it also works well as a teriyaki sauce base.


When we poured the soy sauce into a small plate, we found that this soy sauce was powerfully fragrant. The flavor of the soy sauce was equally strong, showing a deep and rich saltiness and umami.


When tested with our tuna sashimi, we found that the strong flavors of the soy sauce removed the fishiness of the tuna without being overpowering, allowing the umami of the tuna to come through. We recommend this soy sauce for raw fish dishes.

No.6

Marumata ShotenOrganic Tamari Soy Sauce

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Reference price
$28.50

Organic Soy Sauce Made From Fragrant Aged Soybeans

Marumata Shoten's Organic Tamari Soy Sauce is a gluten-free tamari soy sauce made exclusively from soybeans and salt.


We liked the fragrance of aged soybeans common to tamari soy sauces. As for its taste, this soy sauce had a full-bodied saltiness and mellow flavors, with no unwanted lingering aftertastes.


This soy sauce paired with tuna sashimi, tofu, and simmered radish well, but the standout from the three was the tuna sashimi. This soy sauce eliminated any fishiness from the tuna and added extra umami. If you're looking to fully maximize a dish that heavily relies on soy sauce, give this a try.

How We Tested the Soy Sauces

How We Tested the Soy Sauces

We tested the top-selling soy sauces on Amazon, Rakuten, and Yahoo! Shopping to find out the best ones on the market.

We tested each soy sauce for the following:

  1. Taste
  2. Fragrance
  3. Compatibility with ingredients

Test ① Taste

Test ① Taste

First, we tested how delicious each soy sauce is. 


We enlisted the help of professional seasoning sommelier MICHIKO, as well as six male and female testers from mybest's Japanese editorial team, including one who has been training his sense of taste through practice recognizing the five flavors of sweetness, saltiness, bitterness, sourness and umami, to thoroughly evaluate each product.

They compared the taste of soy sauce by pouring soy sauce onto a spoon and tasting it by itself.

Test ② Fragrance

Test ② Fragrance

Next, we tested each soy sauce's fragrance. 


The more well-made a soy sauce is, the more rich its fragrance is. We smelled all the soy sauces and then evaluated each product on a five-point scale ranging from one to five.

Test ③ Compatibility With Ingredients

Test ③ Compatibility With Ingredients

Finally, we compared how compatible each soy sauce was with various ingredients. 


Soy sauce isn't something you enjoy on its own - it's intended to be used with a variety of dishes. In a perfect world, soy sauce should be compatible with any kind of food.

For this test, we tasted the soy sauces with tuna sashimi, tofu, and simmered daikon radish, and evaluated how well the soy sauce paired with these foods. For the simmered daikon radish, we pre-boiled the radish, then simmered it for five minutes with a broth made from three tablespoons of soy sauce and 13 tablespoons of water.

Different Soy Sauces Are Popular Depending on the Region

Different Soy Sauces Are Popular Depending on the Region

In Japan, the preferred type of soy sauce differs depending on the region. Although we mentioned that dark soy sauce is the most common type of soy sauce in Japan, if you go to a different region, you'll often find that different types of soy sauce are more popular, oftentimes based on differences in regional cuisine.


In our tests, we found that regionality played a huge role in how our testers evaluated the soy sauces, with testers from Hokkaido preferring dashi soy sauce, and testers from Kyushu preferring sweet soy sauce, for example.


Here's a breakdown of what regions prefer what type of soy sauce:

  • Hokkaido: Dark soy sauce, dashi soy sauce
  • Tohoku: Slightly sweet dark soy sauce, dashi soy sauce
  • Kanto: Dark soy sauce, with Chiba Prefecture being a major producer
  • Chubu: Dark soy sauce, tamari soy sauce, and white soy sauce
  • Hokuriku: Slightly sweet dark soy sauce
  • Kansai: Either dark or light soy sauce, with Hyogo Prefecture being the birthplace of light soy sauce
  • Shikoku: Shodoshima island is famed for its dark soy sauce, but sweet soy sauce is more common in Ehime and Kochi Prefectures
  • Chugoku: Yamaguchi prefecture is the birthplace of double-brewed soy sauce, but sweet soy sauce is also popular
  • Kyushu: The further south you go, the sweeter the soy sauce. Dark and light soy sauces are also used depending on the dish

Soy Sauce Can Also Be Enjoyed as a Jelly

Soy Sauce Can Also Be Enjoyed as a Jelly

Have you ever heard of soy sauce jelly? It's sometimes served at high-end sushi restaurants and is a new and interesting alternative to your standard soy sauce. Unlike normal liquid soy sauce, soy sauce jelly won't get absorbed by your food, making it perfect as a garnish and seasoning combination. So, how do you make it?


It's actually really easy to make, and only takes three steps:

  1. Melt some gelatin with hot water
  2. Add some soy sauce 
  3. Chill it in the refrigerator for a couple of hours

And that's it! This simple recipe can elevate your dishes, allowing you to have a fine-dining experience right at home.

Add Umami to Your Foods With Dashi and Oyster Soy Sauce

Add Umami to Your Foods With Dashi and Oyster Soy Sauce
There are other ways soy sauce can be processed or altered, giving us products like the popular dashi soy sauce, often flavored with kelp or bonito soup stock. There's also oyster soy sauce, which uses oyster extract to add flavor. Consider a dashi or oyster soy sauce if you want more savoriness or umami. While dashi soy sauces can certainly be used as a dipping sauce like conventional soy sauce, they're often used as a base for soups, noodle dishes, and simmered dishes since the added flavors can help speed up the cooking process.


We found that dashi soy sauce and oyster soy sauces were rated higher than standard soy sauces, mostly since our testers found them to be more delicious on their own in comparison. These soy sauces will also pair well with lighter dishes to add extra flavor. 


However, dashi soy sauce isn't as salty as other soy sauces, and when paired with foods that have strong flavors, like tuna sashimi, the flavors will clash and won't work. So, dashi and oyster soy sauces aren't as versatile as the other types, so we've separated them from the main list of products and featured them in their own list of products.

MICHIKO
Professional Seasoning SommelierMICHIKO

Dashi soy sauces usually use kelp or bonito, but also occasionally use flying fish for stock. However, these are just the most common ones, and there are many other types of dashi soy sauce that use different ingredients.


Dashi soy sauces pair well with Japanese, Chinese, or even Western cuisine. I personally recommend seasoning pasta with dashi soy sauce.

Top 5 Japanese Soy Sauces

No. 1: Kaneyo Shoyu | Light Soy Sauce

No. 2: Inoue Shoyu | Inoue Traditional Soy Sauce

No. 3: Kikkoman | Tokusen Marudaizu Soy Sauce

No. 4: Nibishi Shoyu | Tokusen Umakuchi Soy Sauce

No. 5: Ichibiki | Cho Tokusen Sashimi Tame Bottle

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