TOYAMA, Japan - At an inn in central Japan devoted to kombu, or Japanese edible kelp, guests can enjoy the seaweed in food and cocktails, soak in kombu-infused baths and experience spa treatments featuring the ingredient.
Opened in 2023, Kombu House in Takaoka, Toyama Prefecture, hosts just one group a day, giving guests a chance to discover the many uses of the locally popular seaweed.
"I want people to discover what kombu has to offer," said owner Shiko Takenaka, 52.
Guests can try kobujime, a technique of placing food between sheets of kombu to infuse it with the seaweed's flavor, and enjoy the results at breakfast the next morning.
The inn also serves dishes and cocktails flavored with kombu stock. Guests have praised the kombu oil baths and spa treatments for leaving their skin feeling smoother, Takenaka said.
Stays start at 38,500 yen ($240) per person per night, including breakfast.
Although little kombu is harvested off Toyama Prefecture on the Sea of Japan coast, the seaweed is popular there. The prefectural capital ranked first nationwide in spending on kombu among households with two or more people in 2025, according to an internal affairs ministry survey.
Kombu arrived from Hokkaido aboard Kitamaebune merchant ships that called at Toyama's ports during the 18th and 19th centuries, while people who had moved to Japan's northernmost main island also sent the seaweed to relatives back home.
Local specialties include rice balls coated in finely shaved kombu and fish cakes wrapped in sheets of the seaweed, which is also used to make stock and cure food.
The idea for Kombu House emerged around 2014, when Takenaka, who works in the interior furnishing business, was discussing ways to revitalize the city with fellow members of a local chamber of commerce.
Many opposed the idea, saying they had never heard of anything similar. "Knowing no one else had done it was what fired me up," he recalled.
Takenaka has run a kombu specialty restaurant since 2017 and now teaches elementary and junior high school students about the seaweed's benefits through kobujime workshops and stock tastings.
Hearing children say they want to try making the dishes at home gives him fresh encouragement. "It makes me want to make lots of people happy with kombu," he said.
