Miso comes in numerous varieties and classifications. Types of miso are most easily classified by their key ingrediets and include those made from rice, barley and soybeans. Soybeans constitute the main material for any kind of miso. When rice koji (malted rice) is added to make miso, it becomes kome miso (rice malt miso), and by the same token, when mugi koji(malt) is included, it is known as mugi miso. Mame miso is made with malted soybeans.
Although kome miso accounts for 80 percent of the miso brewed in Japan at present. Kome miso differs greatly according to areas where it is made and can be sweet, salty, red or white. Sililarly, mugi and mame miso can be classified by taste, color and the region where it is produced. Being traditionally made with their own local flavors, these types of miso have long been familiar among Japanese people.
| Classifying different types of miso | |||
| by malt type | by taste | by color | |
| Kome Miso (Rice-malt Miso) |
Sweet | White | |
| Red | |||
| Semi sweet | Light yellow | ||
| Red | |||
| Full-bodied | Light yellow | ||
| Red | |||
| Mugi Miso (Barley-malt Miso) |
Sweet |
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| Full-bodied | Red | ||
| Mame Miso (Soybean-malt Miso) |
deep rich | Dark brown | |
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| Hokkaido miso | Sendai miso (Miyagi Pref.) |
Akita miso | Tsugaru miso (Aomori Pref.) |
Edo ama miso (Tokyo) |
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| Aizu miso (Fukushima Pref.) |
Echigo miso/Sado miso (Niigata Pref.) |
Kansai shiro (white miso) |
Shinshu miso (Nagano Pref.) |
Kaga miso (Ishikawa Pref.) |
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| Gozen miso (Tokushima Pref.) |
Sanuki miso (Kagawa pref.) |
Fuchu miso (Hiroshima Pref.) |
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| Tokai mame miso (Aichi,Mie,Gifu Pref.) |
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| Setouchi mugi miso (Ehime, Yamaguch,Hiroshima, Pref.) |
Satsuma miso (Kagoshima Pref.) |
Nagasaki miso (Nagasaki,Oita Pref.) |
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