Make miso in Tokyo.
MISO UMAMI LAB
Rice koji. Soybeans. Salt.
Three simple ingredients — and months of fermentation ahead.
In a small kitchen in Tokyo, make your own Japanese miso by hand, pack it yourself, and take
it home to continue fermenting.
Make. Pack. Take home. Ferment.
- Jingumae, Tokyo
- About 2 hours
- Small group, up to 4
¥31,000 per person
¥28,000 per person for 2 or more guests
Now make it yourself.
You’ve had it in miso soup.
You’ve tasted it in sauces and dressings.
Perhaps you’ve met it without even knowing its name.
Miso is part of everyday food in Japan.
At MISO UMAMI LAB, Chie Ando’s miso-making workshop at &LAB TOKYO in Jingumae, Tokyo, you go back to the beginning — before the finished flavour, before the months of ageing — and make it with your own hands.
Three ingredients.
One fermentation.
Rice koji.
Soybeans.
Salt.
Simple on their own.
But bring them together, give them time, and they become something entirely different.
Make it first. Discover what happens next.
Miso is not made in a day.
What you prepare during the workshop is only the beginning.
After rice koji, soybeans and salt are mixed and packed, fermentation continues quietly over time.
Aroma develops.
Colour deepens.
Flavour changes.
The miso you make in Tokyo will continue its journey after you leave Japan.
This is not a demonstration.
You work with the ingredients yourself.
Feel the texture of the soybeans.
Meet rice koji up close.
Mix the ingredients by hand.
Pack your miso carefully into its container.
Making miso is simple enough to do with your hands — but understanding what happens next changes the way you see fermentation.
The workshop ends.
Your miso doesn’t.
From here, time becomes part of the recipe.
- LEARN
Meet rice koji and understand what it does inside miso.
- MIX
Combine rice koji, soybeans and salt by hand.
- PACK
Prepare your own miso for fermentation.
- TAKE HOME
Leave Tokyo with the miso you made yourself.
- FERMENT
Let time continue the work in your own kitchen.
A small, hands-on experience in Tokyo.
This experience takes place at &LAB TOKYO, a small kitchen in Jingumae, Tokyo.
With only one to four guests, there is time to work slowly, ask questions, feel the ingredients and understand what you are making.
You are not watching Japanese food culture from a distance.
You are making part of it with your own hands.
Then, lunch.
The session ends at the table with the &LAB TOKYO Signature Lunch: seasonal vegetable sushi and small dishes, prepared with koji and fermented seasonings.
After making miso yourself, taste how koji and fermentation become part of everyday food.
Make it in Tokyo.
Let it mature at home.
Before you leave, your miso is packed and ready to begin its fermentation.
Back in your own kitchen, time takes over.
Weeks become months.
The colour changes.
The aroma deepens.
The flavour becomes your own.
- Tokyo
- →
- Your miso
- →
- Your kitchen
- →
- Time
If you are travelling internationally, please check your destination country’s regulations for bringing food and fermented products home.
More than a souvenir.
- Your own miso, prepared during the workshop
- Guidance for continuing the fermentation at home
- An English label on your miso
- A deeper understanding of koji and Japanese fermentation
Something you made in Tokyo — still changing when you get home.
You don’t need to know anything about fermentation.
No background in cooking, science or fermentation is required. Come curious.
If you want to do more than taste Japanese food — if you want to understand where one of its most familiar flavours begins — MISO UMAMI LAB was made for that kind of curiosity.
KIKI KOJI LAB
Taste. Compare. Discover.A two-hour sensory introduction to koji. See it, smell it, taste different koji and compare how flavour changes.
UMAMI & KOJI LAB
Our signature experience · Learn. Make. Understand.About four hours inside the process of koji — from sowing koji onto steamed rice to observing koji up close, tasting and cooking with it.
Choose by what you want to do, not by level.
Compare the experiences → Explore KIKI KOJI LAB → Explore UMAMI & KOJI LAB →
MISO UMAMI LAB
| Location | Jingumae, Shibuya, Tokyo. The exact address is sent after booking. |
|---|---|
| Duration | About 2 hours |
| Guests | Small group, up to 4 guests. You may share the class with other guests; private bookings are also available on request. Single travellers are welcome. |
| Price | ¥31,000 per person, tax included. For two or more guests booking together, ¥28,000 per person (¥3,000 off each). |
| Language | Hosted by Chie in simple English. An English-speaking assistant can be added on request at least 7 days ahead, for an additional fee (separate cancellation terms apply). |
| Lunch | Includes the &LAB TOKYO Signature Lunch: seasonal vegetable sushi and small dishes, prepared with koji and fermented seasonings |
| Allergies | This workshop uses soybeans. Please tell us about any food allergies or dietary requirements when you book. Our kitchen uses a wide range of ingredients, including soy, nuts, sesame and fermented seasonings. Although nuts may not be used in your class menu, they are handled in the same kitchen. |
| Take home | Your own miso prepared during the workshop, labelled in English, with guidance for continuing the fermentation at home |
| Dates | Arranged around you. Send two or three dates that would suit your stay, at least 5 days ahead. |
¥31,000 per person
¥28,000 per person for 2 or more guests
Book MISO UMAMI LAB
Send two or three dates that suit your stay, at least 5 days ahead. We reply within three working days.