Ishikawa Prefecture, Prefecture on Honshu's northern coast, Japan
Ishikawa is a prefecture along the Sea of Japan coast with the Noto Peninsula in the north and Mount Hakusan in the south rising over twenty-seven hundred meters. The region extends from the cliffs and fishing villages of the peninsula to the hot springs and forests at the foot of the mountain, with Kanazawa as the largest city in between.
The Maeda family ruled this area from the sixteenth century and promoted crafts such as lacquerware and porcelain in their capital Kanazawa. The ruling family built castles and gardens and established sea trade routes to Korea and China.
Gold leaf production in eastern Kanazawa accounts for over ninety percent of Japan's total output, with artisans hammering sheets so thin that ten thousand layers fit into one centimeter. The same district shows Edo-period townhouses where families have run workshops for generations, and visitors often watch them at work.
Trains from Tokyo reach Kanazawa in under three hours and connect the prefecture to the capital. Two airports offer flights to Tokyo, Osaka, and other major cities across the country.
The small island of Notojima sits in the bay of the peninsula and was the birthplace of Japan's first commercial oyster farming in the nineteenth century. Fishermen still use traditional rafts that you can see from the shore at low tide.
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