During the Age of Civil Wars (around the 16th century) in Japan, the landowner Omura Sumikore was defeated in battle and left to roam for six years before reacquiring his land. Omura-zushi started when the people living on his land, delighted at Sumikore’s return, celebrated it by urgently pressing sushi containing rice and other ingredients in a morobuta (shallow tray). The present-day sweet seasoning is said to derive from the abundance of sugar in the Edo period (1603–1868). The sushi is a traditional local dish with a 500-year history that is unique to this area, a place blessed with the bounty of both the sea and the mountains.