l6 RESEARCHES ON THE MANUFACTURE 
carbohydrates and a relatively great quantity of undecomposed 
albuminoids and insoluble substances, and differs in this respect 
from the late sorts of miso. 
III. Varieties, Composition, and Nutritive 
Properties of Miso. 
As the quality of miso depends greatly upon the manner of 
its preparation, the kind of cereal and quantity of salt applied, 
the colour of the product, etc. a great number of varieties of this 
food are distinguished in japan, and are known by special 
names familiar to the consumer and manufacturer. Some of 
the most common kinds may be briefly described in the follow¬ 
ing : 
1) Shiro Miso, white miso, is characterized not only by its 
white colour but also by its low content of salt and by the short, 
time it will keep good. For its preparation the beans, large sorts, 
are steeped and then boiled in water which must be renewed 
several times in order to ensure the white colour of the product. 
The rice for the koji must be very well freed from the bran. 
The mixture of the materials is carried out while the beans are 
still very hot (yo-go^C.), and maturity is complete after 3-4 days’ 
fermentation. The product does not keep longer than about 10 
days. 
2) Yedo Miso, so called from the former name of the metro¬ 
polis, is prepared from rice koji and soy beans, which are mixed 
while still hot (35-45'C.) after steaming, when a portion of the 
salt is added. The other portion of the salt is dissolved in hot 
water and, after cooling, incorporated with the mixture by 
vigorous agitation. The koji manufacturers seem to regard this 
subsequent addition of a cold salt solution (called tane mizu) as 
an essential feature of the preparation of this sort of miso. The 
fermentation is completed in summer within about 10 days, in 
winter in about 30 days, and the product, which has a reddish 
}^ellow colour, keeps from 4-15 months according to the season 
of the year. 
3) Inaka Miso, country miso, is the richest in salt and is 
