“As a child, soy sauce was such a familiar part of my life that I never considered it extraordinary,” says Takashi Sato, president and eighth-generation member of the founding family of San-J, an international soy sauce brand. Yet, the unassuming 10-ounce bottles of soy sauce have become just that: extraordinary.
San-J produces those bottles at a Henrico facility—one that became the first Tamari brewer in the U.S. when it opened in 1987. Tamari, made by fermenting soybeans, is pasteurized and filtered into a rich, umami-packed sauce. Unlike typical soy sauces, which supplement fermentation with wheat, San-J’s tamari is naturally gluten-free. This distinction has made San-J a favorite for those with dietary restrictions, inspiring gluten-free, dairy-free, and vegan recipes. Their No Soy Tamari, bafflingly imagined from peas, mimics the taste of soy sauce while remaining gluten-free, vegan, and kosher.
Last September, San-J celebrated 220 years since its inception in Japan in 1804. Reflecting on the company’s legacy, which spans thousands of miles and hundreds of years, Sato says, “I can preserve traditional Japanese fermentation methods while also embracing modern innovations and techniques, all with the goal of sharing them with the world.” San-J.com
Click here for San-J’s gluten-free, creamy asparagus and pea soup recipe.
This article originally appeared in the April 2025 issue.
