Akita

This reward for the rice harvest is also popular as a school lunch

Kritanpo Nabe

Kiritanpo is mashed cooked rice rolled around a wooden stick and grilled. They are cooked in a nabe (hot pot) of chicken bone stock, local chicken meat, burdock, mushrooms, green onions and other vegetables. Kiritanpo were originally made as a non-perishable food carried around by hunters in the winter. Areas in the north of Akita where kiritanpo are said to have originated still make kiritanpo nabe after the rice harvest as a reward for the farmers' hard work. It is also a popular dish on the lunch menu of schools in Akita prefecture.