'Japan now counts over a thousand varieties of miso, and each region is synonymous with a local recipe: Edo sweet red miso in Tokyo (the city being previously known as Edo) and sweet white miso in Kyoto. In the Chūkyō region it’s dark brown and bitter; in Kyushu it’s made with barley (mugi). As Kazutoshi Endo, chef-patron of the Michelin-starred London sushi restaurant Endo at the Rotunda, puts it, “miso equals culture”.'

https://www.theguardian.com/food/article/2024/jul/16/the-miso-miracle-how-to-use-the-ingredient-that-makes-every-dish-delicious