Take a pleasant walk through Ichinoseki’s shopping streets and then take a trip back in time with a visit to Sekinoichi Kuramoto, a brewery and restaurant located inside a century-old building that was once a sake storehouse. The restaurant offers a unique dining experience—a full-course meal based entirely on mochi. In addition to its beautiful aesthetic, Sekinoichi Kuramoto also has a sake museum and a shop where visitors can purchase freshly made products to take home. The locals say there are a whopping 300 different flavors for mochi toppings and the brewery also offers monthly seasonal flavors of sake and beer made with local ingredients.

The restaurant has a beautiful traditional interior and upon entering, guests will be provided with top-notch service. One of the most popular choices from the menu is the Kahomochi set, said to be a traditional celebratory meal in the city. It comes with eight small bowls of freshly made mochi, all with different seasonal toppings, both sweet and savory, such as sweet red bean paste, roasted sesame seeds, pumpkin, tofu, natto, and dried shrimp. You might be surprised to get a New Year’s favorite on the side: zoni, a clear, aromatic soup with mochi and vegetables cooked in the broth.

If you’d like to pair your meal with a drink, you can choose either Sekinoichi’s locally-brewed Iwate Kura Beer, or their sake, which has been brewed since 1918. Sekinoichi brews their ginjo sake with water from the Ou Mountains and four different types of sake rice. The brewery’s mastery of sake-brewing has also carried over into brewing craft beer that has earned international accolades. They have eight standard selections in addition to seasonal and organic products. Each drink comes with a detailed description in Japanese.