We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Kiyomi Tanigawa. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Kiyomi below.

Kiyomi, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What’s the backstory behind how you came up with the idea for your business?

It all started before the pandemic, when I went to visit my mother in Japan and she was enjoying her daily miso soup with making miso bombs.　 My mother used to make miso soup from scratch when I was a child, but now that she and my father live alone, she started making miso bombs because she wanted an easy, yet delicious miso soup. Commercial instant miso soup contains many additives, but miso bombs can be made to your own taste by arranging your favorite miso and “dashi” with any kind of toppings.

Before the pandemic I was working as an interior designer. When the pandemic left me with lots of time, I decided to work on a miso bomb project that had been warming up for several years since I saw my moms miso bombs. I have also worked as an interior designer and fashion designer in the past, but I am very interested in food, especially Japanese fermented food, and I was very interested in offering traditional Japanese food in a new way. I used to make my own miso every year, and I knew I wanted to do a food-related project someday.

I thought MISOMARU was a great idea for business and approached RICE & MISO, a store offering Rice & Miso also I was providing interior design services for, and suggested about commercializing this idea.
The owner of RICE & MISO was busy expanding her business at the time and was not interested in launching a new product, but she was very interested in my MISOMARU idea and said that if I could commercialize it, her store would carry it. So I was able to design the packaging, graphic design, and branding of the product.

I am not a professional in package design, graphic design, or branding, but I was originally very interested in all aspects of design, so the package and theme were quickly decided.

I decided on a design theme based on the world of “Cha-do” Japanese tea ceremony, which is a comprehensive art form in Japan and one that I love and practice by myself.
Each miso ball was designed to look like a Japanese confectionary, and the display was designed to incorporate the sacred beauty and minimalism of the Japanese tea ceremony.
I wanted MISOMARU to not only showcase miso, but also the beauty, stories, and background of Japanese food culture, just like the world of Japanese tea ceremony.
I’m trying to introduce not only the history and story of MISOMARU, but also to touch on the vessels used to have miso soup, (MISOMARU introduces Japanese lacquerware) why Japanese people use lacquerware, and why most tableware is made of wood or natural products.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I am also an interior designer and have always loved design in general, so I always wanted to experiment to see what would happen if I collaborated it with the world of food. That time came to me with the pandemic.

MISOMARU mission:
We would like to introduce the wonder of miso and Japanese culture from New York through MISOMARU’s products.
I want to share the excellence of Japanese ingredients to outside Japan through MISOMARU products, so I import and use all ingredients hand-picked by me from Japan.
Main ingredients ‘ Miso and dried bonito flakes are not mass-produced, but are made by artisans in small breweries.
I hope that small businesses in Japan will grow together with MISOMARU.

MISOMARU Branding:

Food and design have always been closely intertwined, and when food, utensils, cutlery, place, atmosphere, aroma, sound, and manner of eating all interact beautifully with each other, they create an energy shift that can greatly affect people’s emotions.
I practice “chado” (Japanese tea ceremony the way of tea” for years.
I would like to celebrate my heritage of Japanese food culture through the perspective of Cha do(the way of tea); to me the way of miso.

To express this world through MISOMARU, we would like to introduce not only miso balls but whole experience around miso soup.
MISOMARU introduces a variety of Vessels that allow you to experience Japanese food culture.
For example, we recommend the use of lacquerware bowls when eating miso soup.
The Japanese food culture and nature are closely related, we hold the dishes directly in our hands and bring them directly to their mouths.
Therefore, lacquerware, which does not conduct heat, has long been an essential part of Japanese food culture.
At MISOMARU, we want our customers to experience not only delicious miso soup, but also the food culture and history itself.

Ingredients:
All miso and dried bonito flakes, the main ingredients of MISOMARU, are not mass-produced, but are high quality products that have been made by artisans for a long time, and I hand-pick and import them.
I communicate with the artisans and sometimes ask for their advice while producing them.
I hope that together with MISOMARU, our small business with Japanese craftsmen can grow together.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

When MISOMARU first started Instagram, I think we had about 2 or 30 followers at the time, and we received a message from the Wall Street Journal via Instagram that they wanted to feature us in a feature about souvenirs to bring to hosts over Memorial Day Weekend. I think I had about 2 or 30 followers at the time. We had a website at the time, but our online store was just only for pick up at local store, serving NYC customers.
I wasn’t sure if I could handle it alone, but I wanted to take advantage of this opportunity, so I immediately switched the website to U.S. shipping.
I was told to be ready for the many orders that were coming in after the column is being published, but I was skeptical.
I updated the website and at the same time decided to turn the business into a company.

The article was a very small article that was featured along with other products, but the impact of the article was huge, and I remember it was very difficult to handle the orders that came in, more than I could handle alone for the next few months.

The article also inspired me to attend a local pop-up store and participate in events and hired necessary staff in my kitchen.

Can you talk to us about manufacturing? How’d you figure it all out? We’d love to hear the story.

I have been making miso by hand in the U.S. for almost 20 years. The ingredients are simple; as long as you have soybeans, salt, and rice koji, you can make your own miso that is cheaper and tastier than what you can buy at Japanese grocery stores.　When I was in Japan, I was not very interested in cooking, but when I came to the U.S. and got sick, I always wanted to eat Japanese fermented food, especially miso. Miso soup was something I ate every day for breakfast from my childhood when I came to America, and it was an essential food for me.　Since I moved to US, my eating habits completely changed, and before I knew it, miso soup had become something I have only occasionally.　I will never forget the excitement I felt when I tried making miso for the first time by myself in the U.S.

I enjoyed making miso every year because the taste changes depending on the recipe, the type of beans, and the length of fermentation, and even miso made under the same conditions tasted a little different depending on the person who makes it. Soon after, I began teaching my friends, and we also held workshops where we made miso together. For me, making miso was not just about making and eating it, but it became a social activity in the Japanese community in New York City.

After my son was born in 2007, I wanted to pass on the Japanese food culture to my son grow up in US., so I actively introduced miso to baby food, such as oatmeal with miso risotto.
I also enjoyed sharing the fun of making your own miso.
I taught many people through miso making workshop.

My son is very picky eater and does not eat many vegetables, but he takes miso soup every day.
My mother always says that even if he is picky eater, if he is taking miso soup, he is fine.
Because miso soup is almost complete nutrients. They comes with protein, many kinds of enzymes, vitamins and minerals.

One summer when I was back in Japan, my mother made miso balls, a mixture of miso and dashi (Japanese soup stock) that she kept in an ice tray.
Whenever she wanted to enjoy miso soup, she would take a serving of miso cube out of the ice tray and enjoy the delicious miso.

Miso balls have a long history. 500 years ago, during Japan’s Warring States Period, they were one of the items that samurai brought to the battlefield as food.
Along with dried shiitake mushrooms, rice, and pickled plums, miso balls were also carried in cloth bags.
Miso contains protein, various enzymes, minerals, and vitamins, making it an almost complete meal.　For the samurai fighting on the battlefield, it was like a modern-day power bar.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.brooklynmisomaru.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/brooklyn_misomaru/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiyomi-tanigawa-22a471277/

Image Credits
Photo: Roxane Moreau Dress: Neutral Lab