Thirteenth and fourteenth days in Japan

Terraced rice fields are associated with Asia, but are not a common sight in Japan 

On Saturday and Sunday we made the most out of having our own set of wheels. Saturday morning in Wajima Onsen 輪島温泉 began with the short walk from our hotel (the Route Inn Wajima ホテルルートイン輪島) to the fishing port's Asa-ichi 朝市 morning market. While underwhelming compared to Taiwan's lively markets, it was nice not to be given the hard sell from the elderly women peddling fresh seafood and other daily sundries:

There are also boutiques and small shops selling lacquerware and pottery. We picked up a couple of items at this store:

The owner of the market. It wasn't anyhere to be seen when a large bird of prey apparently swooped down and stole some fish from one of the stalls lining the street:

Taking a break at Kalpa. The barista there is also a lacquer craftsman, and items made by him and his father are sold in the rear of the café: 

It had been raining heavily when we first left the hotel for the market, but soon stopped, and the weather would remain dry (though the sky overcast) for the remainder of the day. Here I am all worked up after some Ethiopian roast:

From the hotel, we got into our rented Toyota Aqua and drove to the Senmaida Rice Terraces 白米千枚田段々畑, the most celebrated sight in the Noto-hantō 能登半島:

The Sea of Japan 日本海 was a little annoyed this day:

We stopped for lunch at Tone 輪島網元とね, where I had the absolutely fabulous Fisherman's Tray 網元午前御膳, featuring sashimi, blowfish tempura, steamed egg custard, pickles and miso soup:

Amber quickly made friends with the resident feline:

Stopping to admire some of the coastal scenery, such as the Madoiwa Window Rock 窓岩:

The Kami-tokikune-ke 上時国家, a historic building established by the descendants of a Taira warrior, Taira Tokitada, exiled to the remote peninsula in 1185. This 19th-century Important Cultural Property features a thatched roof and an elegant interior (not to mention a garden with vocal frogs):

My daughter noticed this frog as we were walking back to our car after visiting the house:

The Rokkō-zaki Lighthouse 禄剛崎灯台 sits at the peninsula's furthest point:

The village of Noroshi 狼煙 lies below the lighthouse:

Our last stop of the day before driving back to the hotel was Road Station Suzunari 珠洲市観光協会, where I celebrated my superb left side of the road driving skills with a helping of caramel and vanilla ice cream made with Suzu salt:

The station was once a stop on a railroad that used to run through the area:

While waiting for several minutes at a construction site to pass through a tunnel via a single lane, we pulled off the road and had a look at the Tarumi Waterfall 垂水の滝:

Dinner at the hotel's ground floor restaurant after returning to Wajima Onsen:

After the meal, we strolled over to watch a Taiko 和太鼓 performance at the Kiriko Kaikan キリコ会館 museum. It was a short but energetic performance of drumming skills - Amber took the better photos, while I recorded a brief snippet:

How the morning bowl of rice is dispensed at the hotel breakfast buffet:

We checked out of the Route Inn Wajima on Sunday morning, and began the drive to our first stop of the day, Cosmo Isle Hakui コスモアイル羽咋. Reaching this museum of space history involves an incongruous drive through the Japanese countryside:

Upon arrival, you're greeted with a UFO-looking domed building and a Mercury Redstone rocket:

Things didn't look very promising at first:

But upon arriving at the second-floor exhibition hall, visitors are greeted with a small but fascinating exhibition of American and Soviet spacecraft, containing both high-quality reproductions, and actual items of machinery and materials used in space exploration. Like this Mercury Space Capsule:

Vostok Reentry Capsule:

Lunar/Mars Rover, an experimental prototype built for NASA:

Molniya 1 Communication Satellite and an Apollo Command Module:

Looking inside the cramped quarters of the command module:

Voyager Spacecraft:

Apollo Lunar Module:

Luna 24:

Viking Lander:

My daughter claims never to have heard of the Roswell incident:

For sale in the gift shop. Amber didn't dare to get any:

From the recent past in Hakui, we drove into Kanazawa 金沢 to have a look at the past of a more distant vintage, parking our car near Myōryū-ji 妙立寺, in the city's Teramachi 寺町district. Here, Amber befriended another local feline:

Though it has nothing to do with the objects of legend and folklore, the temple is popularly known as "Ninja-dera" 忍者寺 for its concealed tunnels, escape routes, hidden stairways, secret chambers and trick doors, all part of a defense plan to protect the local feudal lord 大名 from attack. Admission is by reservation-only, which I had phoned to make before we left Kanazawa for Wajima Onsen a couple of days previously:

Photography isn't allowed during the tour, so you'll have to turn to Google to see these things for yourselves. I had taken the tour way back when I visited Kanazawa in 1991, and Amber really seemed to enjoy it just as much as her father this time:

Passing by this interesting temple guardian at the entrance to Sankō-ji 三光寺 on the way back to our parked vehicle:

After reluctantly returning the car to the good folks at Toyota Rent a Car トヨタレンタカー, and not having eaten since breakfast back on the Noto Peninsula, lunch was in order. I was looking for a fast food meal, but we instead found ourselves at the Kanazawa branch of Shogun Burger ショーグンバーガー, where the cheeseburger instantly turned me into a Wagyū 和牛 guy:

I also became a devotee of Okinawan Hai-Sai ハイサイ sauce:

Amber also contributed her thoughts on the meal:

Appetites sated, we left Kanazawa on the Thunderbird サンダーバード limited express train...:

…and arrived at Fukui Station 福井駅:

Roughly 80% of all dinosaur fossils found in Japan have come from the Fukui 福井 area, a fact which the city is more than happy to promote in front of the train station:

Walking to our home for Sunday evening, we passed by what was once Fukui Castle 福井城, now the site of the prefectural government office:

Getting settled in our hotel room, located close to that former castle:

While deciding on what to have and where to go for dinner, Amber came across a Filipino restaurant on Google that was only a short walk from the hotel. Having never tried Filipino food before, we decided to give it a go. The meal at KUYA JENG was delicious, and the staff extremely friendly, turning out to be a great way to end the day:

There is a dinosaur museum in Fukui that gets good reviews, but is unfortunately closed until the middle of this month, too late for our itinerary. However, there are other sights of interest on the schedule for Monday, so be sure to tune in tomorrow.