In 2016, Yuki attended his first miso making workshop. Although he had spent more than 18 years working as a Japanese chef, he had never made miso by hand before.
 

The flavour of handmade miso was unlike anything he had known. It was deep, complex, alive and full of umami. That first experience stayed with him, and slowly began to change the way we thought about Japanese fermented foods.

Around the same time, Yuka was living with an unexplained illness. She often had fevers, swollen lymph nodes and recurring colds. As Yuki had just begun bringing home his handmade miso, she started adding it to her daily meals.

A few months later, she realised those symptoms were no longer part of her everyday life.
We were not trying to prove anything. It was simply something we experienced at our own table.

For us, miso became more than an ingredient. It became a quiet comfort, a daily rhythm and a reminder of the deep value of Japan’s traditional fermented foods.

These experiences became the beginning of FermenStation.

Today, we make miso, koji, amazake and fermented seasonings by hand in small batches. We take our time with fermentation, choose our ingredients with care and honour Japanese food culture in a way that feels natural for Australian everyday life.

We believe Japanese fermented foods can bring comfort to the body, depth to the table and a gentler rhythm to daily living.
 

Through FermenStation, we hope to share the warmth, umami and quiet happiness of Japanese fermentation with more people across Australia.