Note:
(a) "Carefully climbing the steep stairs, I followed Tsunenori KANŌ 加納 恒儀 into the loft of the fermentation room of his family's 180-year-old soy sauce brewery, Kadochō 角長 [kado is Japanese pronunciation of 角]. * * * I was in Yuasa 湯浅 [both yu and asa are Japanese pronunciations], a quiet port tucked into a bay on the western coast of the Kishu Peninsula in Wakayama Prefecture."
(i) Japanese surname 加納 came from 岐阜県岐阜市 加納町.
(A) 豊臣 秀吉 (1537 – 1598) united Japan in 1591 in the midst of Sengoku period 戦国時代 (1467-1615) but then immediately started the ill-fated Korean campaign (1592–1598; consisting of two separate invasions; Japanese: 文禄・慶長の役, Korean: 壬辰倭亂 and 丁酉再亂, simplified Chinese: 万历朝鲜之役, where 文禄 and 慶長 were 年号 (kanji) of the same Japanese emperor, while 壬辰 (English pronunciation after the Korean one: Imjin) and 丁酉 were years of 1592 and 1597). In 1593 at age 57 豊臣 秀吉 got a son named 豊臣 秀頼 (two other sons had died at 6 and 2, respectively). When 秀吉 died, 秀頼 was 5, governed with the help of Five Elders 五大老. 徳川家康, one of 五大老, defeated 秀頼 in late 1600. To consolidate his power (so that he could move troops quickly), starting in 1601 徳川家康 built Five Routes 五街道 radiating out of Tokyo. See 五街道. NHK for School, undated. https://www2.nhk.or.jp/school/mo ... d=D0005310087_00000
(B) One of 五街道 was Nakasendō 中山道 (translation in en.wikipedia.org: Central Mountain Route; kanji 山 has two Chinese pronunciations: san and sen). Also known as Kisokaidō 木曾街道, 中山道 passed through the 60km-long Kiso Valley 木曾谷 in 長野県 which (valley) is the upper portion of the Kiso River 木曽川. Along 木曾街道 there were 69 rest stations 宿場 (plus one in Tokyo that together made 70), and 加納 was one, depicted as No 58 in
木曽海道六十九次 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/木曽海道六十九次
(C) Through mountainous areas, 木曽海道 was nowhere near the sea (or Pacific Ocean). 木曽海道, because kanji 街 and 海 share the same Chinese pronunciation: kai. 街道 is defined in (b) below.
(ii) The official website of 湯浅醤油の角長 https://kadocho.co.jp
(和歌山県有田郡湯浅町; 天保十二年（1841年) 創業)
At the very top of the home page of this website is "醤油の発祥地である湯浅から天保十二年（1841年) 創業." AND ja.wikipedia.org for 湯浅町 describes the place as "醤油発祥の地"!
(iii)
(A) Wakayama Prefecture 和歌山県 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wakayama_Prefecture
(map; capital 和歌山市)
(B) The ja.wikipedia.org for 和歌山県 says the name came from an inlet called 和歌浦 https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/和歌浦
(map)
. whose original name had been 若の浦 or 若浦. Pronounced waka which is Japanese pronunciation, 若 in Japanese means young.
(C) The ja.wikipedia.org for 和歌山県 also says that in the prefecture there are 有田市 and 有田郡, the latter of which is made up of "湯浅町 (有田振興局所在地), 広川町 [and] 有田川町" (有田振興局 is the fancy name of capital of 有田郡). https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/和歌山県
(section 2.3 地域区分: map [in this map, 和歌浦 is by 和歌山市)
In section 2.3 right beneath 有田郡 is 日高郡 (containing 由良町 separated from 湯浅町 by 広川町 of 有田郡. This information is important in (c). In the same map, heed 高野町 to the northeast, which is important in (d).
(b) Japanese-English dictionary:
* kaidō 街道 【かいどう】 (n): "highway (esp. one existing from the Edo period); main road"
* kichō 帰朝 【きちょう】 (n,v): "returning from abroad; coming back to one's country (Japan)"
* tamari 溜まり 【たまり】 (n): "(1) (See 溜まる) pile; pool; collection * * * (4) liquid runoff from miso preparation; (n) (5) (abbr[eviation] ) (See 溜まり醤油) tamari; variety of rich soy sauce (used for sashimi, etc)"
^ tamaru たまる 《溜まる》 (v): "to collect; to gather; to save; to accumulate; to pile up"
* kawara 瓦 【かわら】 (n): "roof tile"
* buki 葺き; 葺 【ぶき】 (suf[fix]): "roofing; roofed with"
* chagayu 茶粥 【ちゃがゆ】 (n): "tea gruel; tea flavoured rice gruel"
^ I believe the ga in this word is small ke https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_ke
("an abbreviation for the kanji 箇, specifically by writing half of the bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) * * * When used as the conjunction 〜が〜 (~-ga-~), it has the same meaning as 〜の〜 (~-no-~)" )
(c) "The now-beloved condiment came about soon after a Japanese Buddhist monk named Shinchi Kakushin returned from a trip to China and became the abbot at Kokoku-ji Temple near Yuasa. He brought with him a recipe for making Kinzanji miso * * * This by-product, called tamari (a generic word that means 'to accumulate') became the basis for soy sauce as we know it today."
(i) Shinchi Kakushin 心地覺心 (Kanji 地 has two Chinese pronunciationsL chi and ji; kaku is Chinese pronunciation of 覺) https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/心地覺心
(1207-1298; section 1 生涯, section 1.3 までから帰朝 [defined in (b)] まで: "1249年 * * * 紀伊由良から * * * 入宋した。杭州湾口にある普蛇山に着き、中国五大禅寺のひとつである径山寺（興聖万寿禅寺）に上る")
my translation: from (から) まで to (まで) 帰朝: "In 1249 * * * [departed] from 紀伊 [国] 由良 [present-day 和歌山県日高郡由良町] * * * 入宋 journeyed to Song China. Arrived at 着く普蛇山 in 杭州湾口, and climbed to 径山寺 [located at present-day 浙江省杭州市余杭区径山镇], one of the five great Zen temples in China"
(A) He brought back 径山寺味噌 )alsp written as 金山寺味噌), according to ja.wikipedia.org.
(B) In contrast, 白蛇传 was about 江苏省镇江市金山寺.
(C) The ja.wikipedia.org for 心地覺心 continued: Having returned to Japan after six years in China, he "西方寺（後の興国寺）の開山" established 西方寺, which later was 興国寺 Kō-koku-ji [koku is Chinese pronunciation of kanji 国]. See 興国寺 (和歌山県由良町). https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/興国寺_(和歌山県由良町)
(d) "Within years, Yuasa was transformed from being a waystation on the Kumano Kodō 熊野 古道 pilgrimage route that leads to the renowned temples and shrines on nearby Mt Koya into Japan's most important soy sauce brewing centre. * * * Today, the town's historical district is protected by Japanese law. It is an extensive area encompassing 323 houses and other hongawara-buki (traditional buildings) recognised for their immense cultural value. Many of them still have their traditional lattice windows and curved tile roofs * * * Kinzanji miso * * * has remained a popular local delicacy over the centuries, enjoyed as a snack, side dish or even light meal when added to a bowl of rice or mixed into chagayu (a porridge made from rice, water and tea)."
(i) 熊野 (地方) https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/熊野
(yellow part in the map/ "旧国では紀伊国南部にあたり、上古の熊野国と大概一致する")
my translation: Kumano [literally meaning bear field] corresponded to south of 紀伊国 when Japan was divided into provinces 国, and before that anout coextensive with 熊野国.
(ii) Mount Kōya 高野山 (located in 和歌山県伊都郡高野町)
(iii)
(A) hongawara-buki 本瓦葺
(B) A picture is worth a thousand words. There are two types of tile-laying.
(e) "They're then mixed with kōji 麹 kin 菌 (green Aspergillus oryzae [a kind of fungus or mold] mould spores), as is done for Kinzanji miso, and left for three days in an enclosed room, called a muro 室, where the temperature is carefully controlled. * * * Kubota Soy Sauce Brewery 久保田醤油醸 * * * He is the fifth-generation head of Kinzanji miso maker Marushinhonke 丸新本家"