The invention addresses the problem of obtaining a very low salt soy sauce which contains flavor components favorable for a soy sauce at high concentrations and has a salt concentration of 1.0 to 4.0% (w/v) and an ethanol concentration of 8.0 to 20% (v/v) without using any special means. According to the invention, in a method for producing a soy sauce, a carbohydrate starting material and water or a salt solution are added to a first moromi, in which the number of soy sauce yeast viable cells per gram of moromi is 1 107 or more, followed by fermentation to prepare a second moromi having a salt concentration of 4.0 to 12.0% (w/v) and an ethanol concentration of 4.0 to 12.0% (v/v), and then, a carbohydrate starting material and water or a salt solution are added thereto to prepare a third moromi, in which the number of yeast viable cells per gram of moromi is 2 106 or more, and which has an ethanol concentration of 2.0% (v/v) or more, by further adding yeast or without adding yeast, followed by fermentation and aging, thereby obtaining the very low salt soy sauce.
