Sustainable travel has been a trend as of recent years with tourists looking to leave a positive impact on the places they visit. This is especially true for the Tohoku area, where more and more visitors are heading up to explore this natural region of Japan. If you’re looking for such an experience, the city of Tono in Iwate prefecture is an ideal holiday destination.

Think of Kirin-City as a brewery-to-table concept restaurant, where you get to enjoy fine, freshly brewed Kirin beers along with an extensive menu of mouthwatering gastropub-inspired food. Here, the restaurant takes great pride in serving its flagship beer Kirin Ichiban first-pressed beer using the elaborate ‘Three-step Pour’ method.

A traditional kaiseki meal is the epitome of haute Japanese cuisine, where each dish has been made with precise attention to detail, and it revolves around fresh, seasonal ingredients. The multi-course meals are kept quite pure as kaiseki chefs try to showcase the flavour of each and every ingredient used.

Ever wonder how all the beautiful and ancient Japanese buildings are so well maintained? Miyadaiku are carpenters specialised in restoring traditional Japanese architecture such as temples and shrines. It’s impressive how these national treasures are made from wood and have remained so over the centuries, despite earthquakes and other natural disasters.

Having a beer after work, or outside at the park, is a tradition many Japanese adhere to. It’s a fully immersive experience, where the simple act of having a well-brewed beer is the embodiment of teinei: respect for your co-workers, respect for the environment, and respect for the drink itself. And yet the beer is based on just a few simple, natural ingredients, all brought together and brewed with age-old, organic methodology.

Not your typical laundry day, kimono washing is part of traditional Japanese culture also known as arai-hari. It is a unique process where the care consists of unstitching the kimono to separate each panel of cloth before being washed, dried and sewn back together again. Taking particular care and attention to the fabric throughout this washing process ensures that the kimono is properly cleaned and will last for many years to come.

Kirin prides itself on its ‘Ichiban Shibori’, or ‘first press’ technique, which is used in its namesake product line. Like many other Japanese creations, it requires a long list of steps, but is all the better for it, and is the embodiment of teinei.