What Is Miso? (味噌)
A fermented paste of soybeans, koji and salt - Japan's defining soup seasoning, classified by koji type, colour and region.
| Base ingredients | Soybeans plus koji (rice, barley or soybean) and salt, matured from weeks to years |
|---|---|
| Exports | Japanese miso exports hit a record in 2024: 23,497 tonnes worth 6.31 billion yen, with the United States the largest destination (Ministry of Finance trade statistics, reported figures) |
| Main classifications | By koji (rice / barley / soybean), by taste and colour (white / red / blended awase), and by region |
Miso is not one paste but a family. Change the koji and the soybean ratio and the same three ingredients produce a sweet white paste for Kyoto cuisine or a dark, years-aged bean miso for miso-katsu in Nagoya.
The classification used in Japan - and throughout this guide - comes from the public sorting maintained by the Umami Information Center and the miso industry: first by koji, then by colour and taste, then by the named regional styles. The pages in this section follow that order, so a reader can go from the general system to a named regional miso in three steps.
For cooking abroad, the practical question is usually simpler: white, red or awase. White is mildest and sweetest, red is stronger and saltier, and awase - a blend - is the all-purpose middle. The label-reading page at the end of this section shows how to tell them apart in a shop.
See also
Reading a miso labelRelated page in this guide.Choosing in one table
Related page in this guide.
Sources: Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), 'Traditional Foods in Japan'; JAS soy sauce standards; Umami Information Center; Kikkoman official information; Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Checked 6 November 2026.