Happiness can take many forms. For Mma Ramotswe, detective of the well-known No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency (by Alexander McCall Smith), happiness is looking up at Botswana's blue skies, so wide and endless. Contemplating Botswana's skies never fails to humble her and put things in perspective.
For those in Japan, happiness could very well be that moment you open up the lid of a rice cooker. You are greeted by a steam that carries a faintly sweet comforting scent, a scent Japanese undoubtedly associate with home. As the steam clears, you see shiny white beads of sticky fluffy rice, rice that is the faithful background of meals and time of harmony together with loved ones around the table.
Akomeya is a lifestyle store all about the happiness found in a bowl of freshly cooked rice. At its heart is the word "kome" for rice. Here you will find gorgeous block shaped, vacuumed sealed packages of rice (3 cups) grown and harvested from various locations in Japan. The varieties differ in stickiness, tancity, fragrance, chewiness, elasticity and sweetness -- qualities that can suit a variety of purposes. For instance, stickier varieties are best for making bento rice balls.
Going beyond rice as we know it, the shop carries other food products for cooking dishes to accompany rice. Akomeya is particularly proud of their dashi and seasonings, made with the highest quality ingredients. And then there's the cookware -- tools and instruments that are convenient and sophisticated make it easier to prepare home-cooked meals. Carefully prepared food deserves to be served in dinnerware that's charming and graceful.
Akomeya also carries beauty products containing rice components.
If you cannot wait to go home to try Akomeya's offerings, the in-store restaurant serves freshly cooked rice and features menus that use seasonal ingredients and flavors.
