Today, I will talk about the local environment in Akita, Japan. It is in northern Honshuu, the main island of Japan. It mostly farm country with rice fields every where and it is known for its sake (rice wine) production, amongst other things. Let's investigate!
Because Akita is so far away from most of the industrial areas of Japan, there are still many forests in the region. My school, Akita International University, is located in the middle of a forest. Because of that, we were often warned about bears at the end of summer and the security office handed out free bear bells! I never saw one despite walking long distances.
The summer is very hot and humid, which is perfect for farming rice and other crops. The rice industry is very big in Akita. It is what they use to make sake and noodles. As I mentioned in my FN-Food article, most of Akita's local dishes involves rice such as katsudon, or chichen and egg rice bowl. Aside from the rice industry, Akita has its own unique artisan community.
