MSG was invented by the Japanese. There is a short story about its invention.

Ikeda Jumiao, a professor at the University of Tokyo, is a chemist in his forties. He both teaches and engages in scientific research in the university.

One night in the midsummer of 1908, Ikeda came home from an experiment, and his wife brought him food and soup.

"What a rich dinner today!" Ikeda said happily. The wife nodded with satisfaction. Ikeda ate with relish. Suddenly, he stopped eating, hesitated for a while, and stopped his eyes on the cucumber soup. "This bowl of soup is so fresh today!"

"Is there nothing in the soup except kelp and cucumber?" Ikeda asked his wife.

"Yes!" The wife replied, "This kelp was bought in Hibigu Park this morning. It's quite fresh."

"There must be something in this kelp!" Ikeda said to himself.

The wife was puzzled.

From this day on, Professor Ikeda carefully studied the chemical composition of kelp in the chemical laboratory of the University of Tokyo. Half a year later, he extracted a substance called sodium glutamate from kelp. The mystery was finally revealed, and it was sodium glutamate that greatly improved the flavor of dishes. Therefore, Ikeda named it "the essence of taste" and obtained a patent.

At the beginning of the 20th century, advertisements of Ajisen were everywhere in China. Wu Yunchu, an engineer, was interested in this kind of powder, so he bought a bottle to study. He determined that the main ingredient of the powder was sodium glutamate, so he wanted to create the flavor of China. After a year's time, 10 grams of crystal like white powder was finally extracted, and the taste was the same as that of Japan. Wu Yunchu thought, "The most fragrant perfume is essence, and the sweetest taste is saccharin. Then, the freshest thing might as well be named monosodium glutamate".