A soy sauce producer's drive to preserve the condiment's traditional production method has spawned a new activity — taga hoop.

Similar to the hula hoop, the activity involving taga, the bamboo hoops used to fasten the wooden barrel that holds the fermented sauce, has also turned into a competition.

Yasuo Yamamoto, president of Yamaroku Soy Sauce on Shodoshima Island, Kagawa Prefecture, laments the decline of traditional wooden barrels in the industry. He said change in the soy sauce-making process is being caused by the growing popularity of easy-to-use metal barrels.