The Mind-Blowing Reason Kikkoman Soy Sauce Bottles Have 2 Holes

Jason Hawkins, the host of the breakfast radio show “Jase and PJ,” asked his co-host Polly “PJ” Harding why some soy sauce bottles have openings on both sides, according to a video posted by the show’s official TikTok account on August 12, according to Daily Mail.

The two holes are used to pour soy sauce from each side alternately, Harding said. However, Hawkins said she was wrong and proved to her why.

He asked his co-host to pour soy sauce into a glass cup, but Harding lost control of the flow as soon as she tilted the bottle.

Hawkins stopped Harding and instructed her to put a finger on one of the holes of the soy sauce bottle and pour it again. To her surprise, Harding felt she had more control over the flow of the sauce as it poured into the glass by adjusting the pressure of her thumb.

“It’s like I’m at the petrol pump,” Harding said.

The iconic red top soy sauce dispenser was developed by former naval academy student Kenji Ekuan in 1961, according to the New York Times. Ekuan switched careers after witnessing the death of his sister and father, a Buddhist monk, in Hiroshima, Japan during World War II.

“Faced with nothingness, I felt a great nostalgia for human culture. I needed something to touch, to look at. Right then, I decided to be a maker of things,” he said in an interview.

It took Ekuan, who passed away in February 2015, and his team three years to design the teardrop shape of the Kikkoman bottle. They tested over 100 prototypes before they created the current successful dispenser.

The company has not changed the Kikkoman soy sauce bottle for over 50 years since the introduction of Ekuan’s innovative design, Gizmodo reported.