DOJO Launches Japanese Barrel-Aged Soy Sauce in a Chef-Style Squeeze Bottle
Brewed by a Japanese women-led brewery, DOJO's barrel-aged soy sauce uses four ingredients, including mountain spring
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Austin, TX, Oct. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — DOJO, an Austin-born Japanese soy sauce brand, is launching its flagship barrel-aged soy sauce, made in the remote mountains of Japan by a women-led family brewery. DOJO is brewed and matured for nearly 24 months in traditional cedar barrels using four ingredients: organic soybeans, organic wheat, sea salt, and mountain spring water.
DOJO Barrel-Aged Japanese Soy Sauce in its chef-style precision squeeze bottle, shown with sushi rolls. The USDA Organic soy sauce is brewed in Japan, aged in cedar barrels.
The brand pairs generations-old Japanese fermentation techniques with a modern chef-style precision squeeze bottle, designed to give home cooks better control while cooking, seasoning, and finishing dishes.
Soy sauce is one of the world’s most widely used pantry staples, yet founder Chaz Zayed believes much of the tradition behind it has been overlooked in the American market. Some soy sauces sold in the U.S. include caramel color, sweeteners, preservatives, or other additives. DOJO is traditionally brewed Japanese soy sauce, made the way it has been for generations: fermentation, cedar barrels, and time.
Zayed had used soy sauce his whole life. Growing up in Chicago, he put it on almost everything, but never really thought about where it came from or how it was made. In the summer of 2025, that started to change as he learned more about traditionally made Japanese soy sauce and the people behind it.
“Once I learned how much care goes into making it in Japan, I started looking at soy sauce completely differently,” said Zayed. “That’s really how DOJO started. My goal with DOJO is not to reinvent soy sauce, but to reintroduce it so more people experience why it’s so special. Soy sauce is for everyone to enjoy.”
Zayed believed that building a food brand around a product with generations of history meant understanding where it came from. That conviction led him to the mountains of Japan, where he found the family brewery that would become DOJO’s brewing partner.
There, he learned about koji, moromi fermentation, local mountain spring water, and the patience required to make traditionally brewed Japanese soy sauce. What began as a sourcing trip quickly became a personal relationship.
“I went to Japan alone looking for the world’s best soy sauce and somehow came home with another family,” said Zayed. “They welcomed me into their brewery, fed me, taught me their craft, and embraced how seriously I cared about what they had spent a century perfecting. They are so excited to see their soy sauce find a new home in America. I want to make them proud.”
Their technique comes through in the flavor. Rather than tasting overwhelmingly salty, DOJO develops layers of deep umami, subtle sweetness, aroma, and savory complexity through its long fermentation and cedar-barrel aging.
DOJO is also entering the market as one of the first premium Japanese squeeze bottle soy sauces. Inspired by the precision bottles used by chefs in Tokyo, its narrow nozzle gives cooks greater control and is designed to make premium soy sauce an everyday cooking staple.
DOJO is available at www.dojo.world and at a growing group of independent boutique retailers across the country. The brand is beginning with one premium Japanese soy sauce, with plans to innovate across new soy sauce flavors and Japanese pantry staples while expanding into broader retail.
Zayed previously founded Awful Cloth, an apparel and mindset brand worn organically by Charli D’Amelio, Jason Derulo, Diplo, Addison Rae and others. A graduate of Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business and the Texas McCombs MBA program, he began building DOJO in Austin in 2025.
“My life’s mission is soy sauce,” said Zayed. “I want to honor the family that trusted me with their craft and help give soy sauce the appreciation it deserves. I hope the world comes to appreciate soy sauce even half as much as I do.”
For more information, visit www.dojo.world and follow @dojo.world on Instagram.
About DOJO
DOJO is an organic Japanese barrel-aged soy sauce brand founded by Chicago native Chaz Zayed. Made in Japan by a women-led family brewery founded in 1902, DOJO brings nearly 24 months of traditional cedar-barrel brewing into a modern chef-style precision squeeze bottle. Founded in Austin, DOJO is focused on craftsmanship, flavor, and innovation within the soy sauce category while honoring Japanese heritage.
DOJO’s real Japanese soy sauce, served alongside sushi. Brewed by a women-led family brewery founded in 1902, the barrel-aged soy sauce comes in a squeeze bottle designed for everyday cooking and finishing.
Press Inquiries
Chaz Zayed, Founder, DOJO
konnichiwa [at] dojo.world
https://dojo.world/
A video accompanying this announcement is available here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=0OLg01y3tv4
