From The Food Encyclopedia by Jacques Rolland and Carol Sherman
A dark, thick soy sauce made from soybeans, originally made in Japan. There is a bit of confusion surrounding the name. Originally tamari referred to a soy sauce that contained little or no wheat. In the early 1960s, however, Japanese macrobiotic teacher George Ohsawa adopted the term "tamari" for his own traditional, naturally fermented style soy sauce. Soon after, Mr. Ohsawa's tamari became synonymous with "natural" soy sauce in health food stores in North America, some of which may now contain wheat.
