Akita

Akita Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku Region of northern Honshū, the main island of Japan.

The Akita Shinkansen provides hourly service from Tokyo station to Akita station. Trains are all-reserved and are known as Komachi trains. The trains only stop at Ueno, Omiya, Sendai, Morioka, and Shizukuishi before slowing down to travel to Tazawako, Kakunodate, Omagari, and finally Akita over conventional rail lines. Trains also reverse direction once at Omagari, the stop before Akita. Komachi trains from Tokyo reach Akita in four hours and cost 16,810yen each way. Beware that the Komachi trains are coupled to Hachinohe-bound Hayate trains, which split at Morioka, but as all seats are reserved the chance of getting in the wrong car is minimal at best. Japan Rail Pass is accepted.

Akita's weather and clean water are said to be ideal for growing rice, and the local komachi variety is sought after throughout the country. Perhaps the most well-known Akita dish is kiritanpo. Kiritanpo is essentially a tube made of rice, generally formed around a disposable chopstick. It is often roasted, sometimes after being smothered in miso paste. It is also eaten in kiritanpo nabe, a stew of sliced kiritanpo, vegetables, and chicken or fish, most commonly eaten during the winter.

Though consumed throughout Japan, Akita's Oga Peninsula is known for inago, a sweet teriyaki-like dish made of grasshoppers cooked in sake, soy sauce, and sugar. In late winter, hata hata, or sailfin sunfish is popular, usually cooked in a stew. It has a strong flavor, and females with intact egg pouches are most prized.

Akita's famed komachi rice is used to brew many different varieties of sake, some of which are popular throughout Japan. Many of Akita's towns have a local sake brewery, some of which offer tours. On the outskirts of Kakunodate is the Tazawako Brewery. This microbrewery brews a handful of craft beers, and contains a restaurant with all the brewery's beers on tap.