Koji fungus a “national fungus” and fermented foods are essential to Japanese food that virtually no Japanese meal is complete without them.

The beauty of fermentation is that it enhances the flavor and at the same time increases their nutritional value immensely, and makes foods less perishable. Unfortunately, fermented seasonings and foods made using koji face a situation where handmade products are on the verge extinction. Most of the companies in Japan’s food manufacturing industry left behind the laborious methods, and switched to automated fermentation under the mantra of “faster, cheaper, and more.”

If you search the real deal contact: Ishiguro Tane-koji-ten in Toyama prefecture.

see my January 2013 posting: http://mesubim.com/2013/01/12/natto-forever/