Soy sauce, miso paste, skipjack tuna flakes, sake ... it's no exaggeration to say that fermentation is a bedrock of Japanese cuisine. But how are fermented food producers adapting to the 21st-century Japanese palate and foodies abroad? We explore several new business ventures, including a healthy, non-alcoholic beverage made by sake brewers, a modern take on miso soup, and a new version of the infamous fermented beans called natto engineered to be more palatable to non-Japanese consumers.