[For Seniors] Ishikawa Prefecture Local Quiz! Deepen your knowledge with dialects, local gourmet foods, and tourist attractions

Kenrokuen Garden

Kenrokuen is a Japanese garden located in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, and is counted among Japan’s Three Great Gardens, along with Kairakuen in Mito, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Korakuen in Okayama, Okayama Prefecture. It was shaped over many years during the Edo period by successive lords of the Kaga Domain. You can enjoy beautiful scenery in every season, but the winter tradition of “yukitsuri” (snow-support ropes) is especially famous!

coast

The Chirihama Nagisa Driveway, stretching from Hakui City to Hodatsushimizu Town in Ishikawa Prefecture, is the only beach in Japan where ordinary cars, tour buses, motorcycles, and even bicycles can drive along the water’s edge for about 8 kilometers. Because the sand grains are finer than those on typical beaches and become firmly compacted with seawater, the tires don’t sink, allowing for safe driving. Cruising the shoreline while watching the sunset sounds romantic, doesn’t it?

three

Ishikawa Prefecture stretches narrowly along the Sea of Japan and borders three other prefectures in total. It adjoins Toyama Prefecture to the north and east, Fukui Prefecture to the south, and Gifu Prefecture in the mountainous southeastern area. In particular, its border with Gifu is something that people might surprisingly forget when picturing a map of Japan.

mushroom

In parts of the Hokuriku region, including Ishikawa Prefecture, mushrooms are called “koke” in the local dialect. Mushrooms are a beloved autumn delicacy, but if you say to someone from outside the prefecture, “Let’s go to the mountains to pick koke,” they’re often surprised because they mistake it for “koke,” meaning moss that grows on gardens or rocks. It’s interesting how different dialects evoke different associations.

snow shoveling

“Yuki-sukashi” is a dialect term commonly used in Ishikawa Prefecture that refers to snow shoveling or snow removal. It’s said to have become established from the way people “sukasu”—scooping and sliding snow away with a shovel or a snow pusher. Winters in the Hokuriku region bring heavy snowfall, and it’s not uncommon to have to do yuki-sukashi almost every day. It’s an expression closely tied to daily life unique to snowy regions.

Kanazawa City

The capital of Ishikawa Prefecture is Kanazawa City. Kanazawa is a historic city that flourished as the castle town of the Kaga Domain, and it still retains beautiful charm today, with places like Kenrokuen Garden and the Higashi Chaya District. With the opening of the Hokuriku Shinkansen, access from the Kanto region has improved dramatically, and the city is bustling with many tourists.

Red and white in color.

In Ishikawa Prefecture, there is a custom of displaying a kagami mochi not with two white rice cakes stacked, but with a red-and-white kagami mochi: a white lower tier and a pink upper tier. This tradition is said to date back to the era of the Maeda domain of Kaga Hyakumangoku. The Maeda family adopted the custom of red-and-white kagami mochi that had been displayed in the shogunal household of the Muromachi shogunate, and it gradually spread among common people. Many people may be surprised by its appearance, which differs from the typical kagami mochi.