米原から敦賀・福井・金沢・津幡（能登半島）経由で直江津へ

32. From Maibara via Tsuruga, Fukui, Kanazawa and Tsubata (Noto Peninsula) to Naoetsu.

Imperial Government Railway's Hokuroku Line.

30 M. Tsuruga. Frequent well-equipped trains in less than 2 hrs. Point of embarkation in this section for Vladivostok, the E. terminus of the trans-Siberian Rly. For rly. fares, and other information consult the Rly. Time Table.

228 M. Naoetsu, the terminus, is a station on the great West Coast Route referred to at p. 539. It is one of the most important in the Empire, and one of the most costly (in some places as much as 200,000 yen a mile).

Beyond Tsuruga the rly. penetrates the little known provinces of Echizen, Kaga (whence a branch line enters the Noto Peninsula, in Noto Province), Etchu, and part of Echigo. In some places the ruling gradient is 1 in 40, and the mt. scenery is supplemented by magnificent sea views. The region is ordinarily termed the Hokuroku-do (or ma) — "Northern Land," the five provinces of which (including also Noto and Sado Island) form a long narrow strip along the Japan Sea, and comprise one of the eight divisions of the Empire. The fertile plains, which form a sort of slope between the sea and the gigantic range of mts. that constitute segments of the colossal backbone of the main island of Hondo, yield tea, rice, lacquer, silk, and many valuable products. The sea contains splendid fish. During the rigorous winter, when the coast is swept by the biting Siberian winds, and much of the low land is buried deep in snow, communication by sea is difficult. Much of the coast is rocky and densely wooded, and in these stretches the hunter will find game in abundance. In the remote towns but recently linked with the outer civilization, many of the quaintly primitive customs of Old Japan still survive. The bento sold at many of the stations contains excellent fish caught from the Japan Sea.

From Maibara (see p. 398) the rly. runs along the E. shore of the classic Lake Biwa and trends N.W. to the Japan Sea. The flat rice-lands rise gradually to hill-slopes, scattered over which are many pollarded mulberry trees that advertise silk as the local industry. Some tea and a little cotton are raised. 4 M. Nagahama is mentioned in the reference to Lake Biwa. The country takes on a roughish character around (17 M.) Naganogo, and is enlivened here and there by a mt. torrent plunging down between the hills. On the slope of a hill (915 ft.) beyond 19 M. Yanagase the train traverses the Yanagase Tunnel, one of the longest (4435 ft.) in Japan. Four years and 425,499 yen were required to build it, and the gradient of 1 in 40 added to the engineering difficulties. Beyond this tunnel the train descends through other tunnels and narrow gorges into the province of Echizen, crossing an uncomely

country watered by several mt. streams before it reaches (30 M.) Tsuruga (soo-roong'-ah), a growing town (pop. 30,000) at the sea-level.

Tsuruga, an important shipping port on the Japan Sea, 72 M. from Kyoto, and 314 from Tokyo, stands at the head of a wide Bay into which several streams empty.

Kumagai Hotel, near the center of the town. Rates from 8 to 12 yen a day, Amer. Plan. Runners meet trains.

Steamships of the well-known Osaka Shosen Kaisha (local agency) maintain a frequent service (consult the company's folder) between the port and (494 M. at the N.; about 36 hrs.) Vladivostok, the terminus of the trans-Siberian Rly., 5800 M. from Moscow. (Because it is shaped like a cow's horn, the harbor of Vladivostok is often called Golden Horn Harbor. It is 14,950 ft. from E. to W., 2800 ft. from N. to S., has water to the depth of 60-70 ft., and has sufficient anchorage for a big navy.)

The harbor (about 6 M. N. and S. with an average breadth of about 2 M., tapering toward the head) is one of the best on the West Coast, from which circumstance it is much frequented by trading-junks and other craft. It is unprotected from the N. winds, which blow strongly and almost ceaselessly during the winter, and render the town cold and disagreeable. Ships find it difficult to approach the shore in rough weather, and when they stop outside, launches or sampans must be employed. Extensive harbor works, which include docks and breakwaters, are under way.

Several pretty temples and shrines occupy commanding positions on the hills at the right, conspicuous among them the Kanagasaki-jinsha, hard by the attractive Kamomegasaki Park (5 min. walk from the landing). Within 3/4 M. at the left, near the base of a well-wooded mt., is the handsome Matsu-bara ("pine forest") Park. Both shores of the bay rise abruptly from the sea (Nosaka-yama, at the S., is 2786 ft. high), and a number of popular and sheltered bathing-resorts snuggle in the coves. Jogu, with a small shrine, is 2 M. to the N.W. The region roundabout is historic. Legend says that the first Koreans to land in Japan came here during the reign of the Emperor Suinin (B.C. 97-33), and because they wore head-dresses of horns the place was called Tsunoga. Many of the nursery lullabies and tales popular throughout Japan had their origin hereabout. The old castle that once occupied the summit (150 ft.) of Kanagasaki was erected in the 14th cent. and was the scene (in 1337) of a furious battle between Nitta Yoshisada and the minions of Ashikaga Takauji. Oda Nobunaga sacked and destroyed the place in 1573.

From Tsuruga the train climbs at once into the hills and threads a number of tunnels before reaching the (3919 ft. long) Yamanaka Tunnel, 1005 ft. above the sea. The stations

are small and uninteresting. At (47 M.) Imajo (517 ft.) the plain broadens and slopes to (68 M.) Fukui (131 ft.), a thriving city with 60,000 inhabitants in the prefecture of the same name.

Though of but scant interest to foreigners Fukui is of historic moment to the Japanese; the ruinous old castle dates from the 16th cent. and was for many years the home of the powerful Echizen-ke, or Matsudaira family (an offshoot of the Maeda). The Tokugawa shogun, Ieyasu, established his son Yuki Hideyasu here in 1601, and his son Tadanao changed the name of the town from Kita-no-sho to the present Fukui. The fine silk called habutae, and the handkerchiefs made from it, rank high among the manufactured products. Broad fruit orchards stud the environs. The river is the Asuwa. The region is productive.

87 M. Daishoji, an ancient castle town (pop. 11,000) in Kaga Province near the Echizen line, produces considerable tea and is one of the points of departure for the (3 1/2 M. by tram to the S.E.) Yamashiro Hot Springs, in a region where there are many porcelain kilns and where much of the famous Kutani porcelain-ware is made.

Some 3 M. distant, reached also by tram, is the much-frequented Yamanaka Spa (several native inns) in the midst of a group of saline and other springs and picturesque mt. scenery. The decadent town of Kutani lies 5 M. toward the S. in a hilly region. A kind of earthenware called Yamanaka-ware is produced in the neighborhood. The internal fires which rage over a large section hereabout advertise their presence by a multiplicity of springs of various chemical properties, to which the ailing natives ascribe wonderful healing powers.

In some places these subterranean fires are near enough to the surface to impart heat; hence a special luxuriance to the vegetation, which grows with a vigor that recalls the lower tropics.

In some of the warm springs for which the region is celebrated, promiscuous bathing is still in vogue, and the startled traveler can see many of the townspeople of both sexes, soaking and gossiping in the tepid waters, clad only in their buff-colored birthday suits!

Occasional glimpses of the sea relieve the monotony of the land views as the train runs N.; numerous rivers race down from the great mt. range at the right, the most conspicuous feature of which is the celebrated Hakusan, or White Mountain (often called Kaga no Hakusan), a graceful, snow-flecked cone (8700 ft.) which 16th-cent. historians refer to as an active volcano.

Hakusan is to mariners on the Japan Sea much what Orizaba is to those of the Mexican Gulf, a beautiful and shining landmark; it ranks as one of the highest and finest of the Japanese mts. According to Dr. Rein it is built

upon Jurassic sandstones and trachytic conglomerates of magnificent hornblende andesite, and because of its wealth of vegetable forms is one of the most interesting mts. in Japan. None of the numerous lofty summits of the country offer so varied a field for botanical geography, and few if any exhibit an equally rich and remarkable collection of plants belonging to different floras of the world. A number of temples adorn the three peaks (Bessan, 7733 ft.; Gozen-mine, 9000 ft.; and the lower Onanji) of Hakusan, and in July and Aug. are much visited by pilgrims. At its foot, near Ichinose, a strong chalybeate bath offers to many invalids a prospect of recovery.

The customary starting-point for the ascent of Hakusan is Kanazawa whence Ichinose is 34 M. From here the trail is steepish to the (7 M.) Murodo rest-house, and steeper yet to the summit, 1/2 mile higher. Excellent advice regarding outfits, etc., will be found in Rev. Walter Weston's Japanese Alps. Guides are necessary. The region is wild and uncultivated; the people hardworking and honest. The views from the summit are fine, but are not superior to those obtainable from the crest of Fuji, which is more easily approached, less difficult, and is marked by fewer discomforts. The Tetori-gawa, the most important river of Kaga Province, and which the rly. crosses just before reaching 105 M. Mikawa, has its rise on the flank of Hakusan.

116 M. Kanazawa (Inns: Ouraya, Asadaya, etc.: from ¥2.50 and upward), capital of Kaga Province and of Ishikawa Prefecture, a thriving city with 111,000 inhabs., is 5 M. from the sea, 133 ft. above it, and was founded in the 15th cent. Many bronze objects are made here, and the city is a great shipping-point for the handsomely decorated Kutani-yaki, or Kaga porcelain. The old castle (now a military post) dates from 1583, at which time it was built by Maeda Toshiie, to whom Hideyoshi gave the province as a fief. The Kenroku-en, or "Six-fold Garden" (with islets, quaint bridges, fish- and lotus-ponds), on the opposite hill, was laid out by one of the Maedas in the 17th cent., and ranks as one of the finest in the Empire. Visitors with time to spare should inspect it and enjoy the view over the city from the miniature mt. (called Fukuju-san) within it. — The Industrial Museum differs but little from those in other cities. — Soon after leaving Kanazawa the rly. crosses the Asano-gawa to 123 M. Tsubata (Inn: Kitaniya, ¥2.50), the starting point for the Nanao Line to 34 M. Yatashin, on the Noto Peninsula at the N.W. Time, about 2 hrs.; fare, ¥1.43, 1st cl.; 86 sen, 2d cl.

Nanao (pop. 12,000; Inn: Nozakiya, ¥2), the capital and chief town, stands (near the center of the E. coast) on Nanao Bay — which indents the peninsula in a W. direction for about 10 M. The old castle was erected by Hatakeyama Mitsunori, governor of the province in 1399. The harbor is one of the best on the Japan Sea, and as the water makes in from Toyama Bay it forms an anchorage almost as sheltered and as safe as that of the justly famous harbor of Sydney, New South Wales. There is splendid fishing and fine scenery. The Hot Mineral Springs of Wakura (1/2 hr. by jinriki) are popular. Wajimi, on the N. coast (pop. 8000), is the next largest town. So few foreign travelers penetrate to Noto that many of the quaint native customs are untainted by contact with the West, and are practiced in their original simplicity.

From Tsubata the grade slopes upward through the Tsudzura-ori Tunnel to the longer (3102 ft.) Kurikara Tunnel, whence it descends again and passes several unimportant towns on the plain. 141 M. Takaoka (pop. 25,000) manufactures bronzes and lacquer-wares. The branch rly. which runs off toward the

sea goes to 4 M. Fushiki (7 M. from Nanao, and 63 from Naoetsu — daily steamers). Three rivers are crossed before the line reaches 153 M. Toyama (Inn: Takamatsu-ya; Toyama Hotel, both native style, ¥2.50-3.50), the capital of Etchu Province and of Toyama-ken, with 58,000 inhabs. and 13,000 houses. The handsome old city with its castle erected in 1572 was long the railhead of the line. Its situation on the Jinzu-gawa formerly added to its strategic value, and for many yrs. prior to the Restoration it was one of the headquarters of the powerful Matsudaira daimyos. The fine volcanic mt. visible on the sky-line at the E. is Tateyama (9600 ft.). — Hence to the end of the line the rly. follows the contour of the sea over a fairly level country flanked on the right by imposing mts. Conspicuous among these is Orenge-yama ("Great Lotus Mt.") the highest point (9974 ft.) in the N. part of the Japanese Alps. Many giants of this rugged range rise in pointed grandeur, and besides adding awe-inspiring adjuncts to the landscape they influence it materially by their height. The traveler who comes this way in winter will not fail to be surprised at the heavy snow-fall — a phenomenon attributable to the cold, dry air of Siberia crossing the Japan Sea and impinging on the W. face of this warmer, volcanic range. For months the country is sometimes buried under such masses of snow that the inhabitants are forced to make use of the tunnels referred to at p. lviii. — Eleven shallow but wide and swift rivers cross the rly. track between Toyama and 184 M. Tomari, near which is a magnificent stretch of seashore familiar to most Japanese because of the two high, rocky cliffs known as Koshirazu, and Oyashirazu — "Not-knowing children," and "Not-knowing parents." Anciently the highway lay along the beach, and during the strong N.W. gales, the sea beat in with such fury that those who passed by did so at great peril to their lives. Hence, no man was supposed to have a care for aught but himself. These granite cliffs are supposed to be the starting-point of the range of the Alps that stretch to the Plains of Mino, nearly a hundred miles distant at the S. The waters hereabout are renowned for a species of sole (karei) and a sea-bream (tai), the latter good eating but with an odor like animated cheese (whence the expression: Kusatte mo tai, "although it is putrid it is better than other fish!"). — 228 M. Naoetsu. See Rte. 6, p. 65.