Miso paste varieties developed in Osaka more than a century ago remain popular not only among local people but also in prestigious restaurants and hotels across Japan, where soup made from the fermented soybean paste is a daily staple.
Wooden barrels containing various types of miso are lined up at Torii Miso, an established shop near Osaka Tenmangu, a Shinto shrine in the western Japanese city. The shop, which was founded during the Edo Period (1603-1868) is named in reference to the torii gate that once stood just across from it, marking the entrance to a shrine.
Visitors to the shrine are the shop's major customers but the number of foreign tourists has also been increasing in recent years, according to Torii Miso.