From 1899, Prof. Ikeda studied in Germany for two years at the laboratory of Prof. Friedrich Wilhelm Ostwald at the University of Leipzig, which was then the center of physical chemistry.

[2] In 1907 at the Tokyo Imperial University in Japan, Ikeda was eating dinner with his family when he suddenly stopped.

That day the dashi broth in his soup was more delicious than normal; after stirring a few times he realized the difference was the umami flavor from the addition of kombu, a species of brown macroalgae, and flakes of fish known as katsuobushi.

[1] Some noted that the taste of the umami is similar to the flavor of the haute cuisine that the French chef Auguste Escoffier created.

[8] Kikunae Ikeda also studied other foods to see if they contained umami, and confirmed that glutamate was responsible for part of the flavor of meat, seaweed and tomatoes.