Since 1986, the Iwama family has been providing the residents of Wakabayashi Ward in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, with handmade traditional Japanese sweets.
In the midst of Japan's bubble economy, founder Yoshio Iwama revamped his sushi-ya (sushi restaurant) into Sendai Dango Ichifuku in order to guarantee a more stable source of income. Dango dumplings are usually made from mochiko (sticky rice flour), but after a bit of experimenting Yoshio was able to find a way of making dango with his leftover Sasanishiki sushi rice.
Simply referred to as Dango Ichifuku by its longtime regulars, the store was modernized by Iwama's three children in 2017 while still preserving the traditional methods and values passed on by their father.
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