Protected local food
Gozen Miso
御膳みそ
A rich, sweet rice miso from Tokushima, named because it was once served at the local lord's table. It has a deep flavour and a fresh, apple-like aroma.
Key facts
- Registered as a protected name
- 18 March 2025
- Region
- Shikoku
- Official name in Japanese
- 御膳みそ
- Official area (in Japanese)
- 徳島県
Salty, sweet and deep
Gozen miso is fairly salty, but it uses a lot of rice koji, so it is sweet as well. Ageing adds light notes of tang, astringency and bitterness, and it has a fresh aroma a little like apple. The result is a deep, rich miso. In Tokushima it is eaten grilled as yaki-miso and as okazu-miso, a miso side dish with rice.
Fit for a lord
Gozen means the lord's table. The lords of Awa, today's Tokushima, served it at their meals and are said to have shared it with other lords, which spread its fame.
Thanks to indigo
In the Edo period the lords promoted salt making and indigo farming. Indigo needs heavy fertilising, and the leftover nutrients grew excellent soybeans as a second crop. Local soybeans, salt and rice together built a miso industry. Between the mid-1960s and early 1970s makers adopted a yeast developed by the prefecture and shared standards for ingredients, which made the quality more consistent.
Good to know
- Tokushima is famous for the Awa Odori dance festival in mid-August and for its indigo dyeing.
- Compare with Sanuki Shiro Miso, the sweet white miso from neighbouring Kagawa.
Questions travellers ask
What does gozen mean?
The meal table of a lord or noble. The name says it was good enough for the lord.
How do I use it?
In miso soup, as a glaze for grilled foods, or mixed with sugar and sesame as a dip.
Where it comes from
More protected foods from the same area
Crafts from the same area
Heritage stories from the same area
Sources
We checked the facts on this page against these sources.