Akita's food is widely popular in Japan. It is said that water here is of very high quality and so it's the rice. There are several famous dishes whose origins belong to this prefecture. Just to name a few, Inaniwa Udon or kiritanpo are a couple of local delicacies. With all this delicious food to try, if you are in Akita city, the best place where to go is undoubtedly the Kawabata Dori street. During the day, while all the restaurants and bars are closed, this street looks old and forgotten. The small side alleys are deserted and the more you go south, the more the buildings seems decaying, almost abandoned. During the night everything changes.
This area magically comes back to life: lights and neon signs lit the front of every place, crowds of people stuffed in tiny izakaya bars cheer loudly and busy waiters run from one table to the other to get orders. While walking along the street, waves of delicious smells coming from the kitchens make your mouth watering and a light smoky air wafts over the street. It is said that here you can find more than one thousand restaurants. People says you can find almost every food and that is probably true. On the other side it is also true that this area is packed of night clubs and girls bar. Along food, this city is well known for its beautiful women. The term Akita-bijin has been coin and it’s recognized as synonym of beauty.
I don't exactly know how badly this area changed in the last years. Especially in the south end, the feeling was more the one of a red-light district than the one of what people call "The Kitchen of Akita". However, changing or not, Kawabata Dori will still fulfill your culinary desires and it will still remain the beating heart of this city.

Getting there

Kawabata Dori is located 15 minutes walking from Akita train station.

By Sandro Bernardinello