Natto is a dessert for me.

During my time studying in the UK,
I often found myself in long conversations about cultural differences with a Japanese friend from university and her British partner.

One day, the topic turned to foods that divide opinion - the kind people either love or hate.

Without hesitation, he mentioned Marmite, a fermented spread beloved in the UK.
It’s famously known as “Love it or hate it” - those who love it are devoted, while others simply can’t stand it.

Naturally, we Japanese brought up natto.

Its smell, its stickiness, its appearance - not something most would immediately call “delicious.”
And yet, it remains deeply loved.
Though from different cultures, the two felt strangely alike.

In the middle of that conversation, he said quietly:

“For me, natto is a dessert.”

“A… dessert?”

I thought I had misheard him. But he was certain.

Even though we eat it with a soy-based sauce, how could it possibly be a dessert?
At the time, I couldn’t understand at all.
It even became a small topic of conversation among our Japanese friends.

Years later, I found myself creating something unexpected - a true dessert made from natto and chocolate.

Perhaps he had sensed something - a hidden potential within natto that I could not yet see.

Food culture is shaped by perspective.
What feels obvious in one place can be completely overturned in another.
What we take for granted can reveal an entirely new idea when seen through a different lens.

“Maybe natto is a dessert.”

Looking back, his words were never just about taste - they were about a world beyond fixed ideas.

Perhaps we simply haven’t discovered it yet - but the potential is already right in front of us.

And natto, surely, is one of those possibilities.