But it wasn't until 1908 that the ingredient in kombu which was responsible for the improvement in flavour was actually discovered to be glutamate by scientists working there.

From 1908 until 1956,glutamate was produced commercially in Japan by a very slow and expensive means of extraction.it was in 1956 that the speed of the process was improved,and industrial production increased dramatically and still continues to increase to this day.In fact,hundreds of thousands of tonnes of MSG are produced all over the world today.