Region 5: 北陸 Hokuriku
Hokuriku is a part of the bigger Chubu region. Both Fukui and Ishikawa prefectures are on the Japan Sea coast. Therefore, it can get a little humid during the summer and have a good amount of snow during the winter, but most of the year the weather is nice.
富山 Toyama
This Prefecture's Symbol  |
富山 - Toyama
CAPITAL : Toyama
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Links:
富山 - Yahoo! Japan's Toyama Page
Toyama Prefecture homepage
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石川 - Ishikawa
This Prefecture's Symbol  |
石川 - Ishikawa
CAPITAL : Kanazawa 兼六園 Kenrokuen in Kanazawa is one of the three great Japanese gardens in all of Japan.
Click here for a Map of Kenrokuen in English [JPG 198 kb] Kairaku-en and Koraku-en are the other two. If you are in Kanazawa and like curry & rice there is a great restaurant called Hot House . By all means visit that place. It isn't too far from the heart of Kanazawa, but sorry you will have to look it up or ask someone! Also Noto peninsula [能登半島 noto hantou ] is a very beautiful driving spot. You can see on the map below how the peninsula extends into the sea. You can also see real Japanese graffiti! |
This picture is a place called 千枚田 sen mai da which means "1000 rice fields." And if you look at the picture you can see they weren't kidding. actually there are much more than 1000!
小松 Komatsu has the largest airport in Ishikawa.
Links:
石川 - Yahoo! Japan's Ishikawa Page
Ishikawa Prefecture homepage
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福井 Fukui
This Prefecture's Symbol  |
福井 - Fukui
CAPITAL : Fukui The capital city, Fukui City, is the largest city in Fukui with a population of about 270,000. Originally the area was known as 越前 Echizen before becoming Fukui in 1871. You can still see the influence of the name in Echizen crab or Echizen pottery. And, this was news to me, but it looks like 武生 Takefu merged with 今立 Imadate to become 越前市 Echizen City in October 1, 2005. Fukui is famous for its 和紙 washi paper and pottery. |
A 公園 koen park near my old apartment
This is Fukui's prefectural headquarters - 県庁 kencho
Links:
Fukui Prefecture homepage
福井 - Yahoo! Japan's FUKUI Page (in Japanese)
ガンガ - Ganga Indian Restaurant Clay's favorite!! (In Japanese)
Bunkyo Gospel Center - the church Clay went to and the ONLY English speaking church in Fukui! (Fukui City) Nice folks!
Fukui City Guide Book - Importanat Information including 'The correct way to divide and throw away your trash'
A guide book for Foreign residents of Fukui - In English
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一乗滝＆佐々木小次郎 Ichijoutaki Waterfall in Fukui
 一乗滝 Ichijou Waterfall  佐々木小次郎 Sasaki Kojirou |
Ichijoudaki [一乗滝] is a 12 meter high waterfall in the mountains of Fukui prefecture--near Fukui City and Sabae. In the summer, it is a hot spot for people to go to cool down. Being deep in the mountains alone cools the air, but standing near the waterfall gives an extra refreshing spray of cool water. There are two nearby parking lots and if there aren't many people, you can drive pretty close to the waterfall. Additionally, there are nice, new restroom facilities and a place to have a picnic nearby. In short: it is second only to the library for a place to hideout during the long, hot August month. Tradition has it 佐々木小次郎 (Sasaki Kojirou) the arch-enemy of 宮本武蔵 (Miyamoto Musashi) practiced his 燕返し tsubame kaeshi (Kenkyusha has the definition as: 'a quickly reversed cut' whatever that means) fencing movement at the base of the waterfall while the water belted him from above. I suppose this was to improve concentration with distractions. Who knows if this is true, but it makes for a good enough story to have a statue of the famous samurai near the waterfall. (see left). I didn't know this, but according to Wikipedia, Sasaki was born in Fukui Prefecture (Yumi's hometown)! It has to be true since it came from the Internet. (Of course the Onion did once report of a Factual Error Found on the Internet regarding a Brady Bunch fan site, but I believe it has since been corrected) Apparently, they filmed some of the NHK 大河ドラマ「武蔵 MUSASHI 」 in Fukui. Links on 一乗滝 (in Japanese)
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 An excited Makoto near the Waterfall |
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| Makoto shows off the sign on the rock (funny how geological formations occur) about Sasaki Kojirou. Click the image to see a large picture of the sign itself. |  |
Here is a sign in the park area with more information on the origins of Ichijoudaki
Lastly, there was a haiku on a rock and I have no idea what it says or who wrote it. Anyone? Anyone?
～つや
神の大滝
木う～れ
