Yakult ヤクルト

Microbiologist Minoru Shirota, troubled by the toll of infectious disease and poor nutrition on children in early 20th-century Japan, researched intestinal bacteria at Kyoto Imperial University. In 1930, after years of work, he successfully cultured a strain of lactic acid bacteria hardy enough to survive stomach acid and reach the intestines alive — now known as Lacticaseibacillus paracasei strain Shirota.

In 1935, Shirota launched a fermented milk drink containing the live Shirota strain, naming it Yakult after 'jahurto,' the Esperanto word for yogurt, and began selling it door-to-door in Japan. The company Yakult Honsha was later established to grow the business, which today sells its probiotic drink in dozens of countries and regions, still delivered in many markets by Yakult Ladies.