Japan 2015 - Day 8 - Wajima

April 14, 2015: Wajima Asaichi, Wajima Kiriko Art Museum, Chirihama Beach Driveway

We left for Wajima in the Nodo Peninsula a few minutes before 8:00 a.m., earlier than scheduled, as usual, thanks to the promptness of all in the group. We settled in and got comfy for the 2-hour journey.

Sweetie gave me this miso manju.  I forget where she got it from. 


Not sure what was inside, but it was gooood.


Tomiko our tour bus lady was so adept at pouring hot tea on our moving bus, it always amazed me. She also sang to us, told stories and taught us origami folding.


Wajima's Asaichi (morning market) is the city's most famous attraction and is believed to date back over 1,000 years.  It is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.




Many obaachans could be found selling their goods. They were so cute that I wanted to buy something from each one of them.


There were a lot of samples to try.


Sweetie bought two house slippers from this seller.








We were told that this lady still dives for abalone.


This is the seller that we bought our abalone from.  She was recommended by our tour escort.




This lady was so cute.  She was so skilled at cleaning her fish that there was a group of us photographing her at the same time. She got embarrassed and said, "Oh my God." I couldn't believe my ears. I wasn't sure if I heard her right. Then sure enough, she said it again. Except it sounded more like, "Oh my Guddo."






These crabs were actually moving.






Don't you just wanna buy something from this lady?








At the start of this trip Sweetie learned from one of the ladies in our group (thank you, Glennis) that you can find stamp stations in some locations. They provide rubber stamps which depict their particular area. At nearly all of our stops you could find these stations.  It was so cool. I never knew. 


After shopping at the morning market we met to take a trek to our next stop.


It was just a short distance away.


Along with its fishing industry, Wajima is also know for its lacquerware. We met at an information center where we were taught about the process of making Wajima-nuri (lacquerware). To tell you the truth,  the talk was interesting and all (you can find out more here) . . . but all I could think about was HOW HOT IT WAS IN THE ROOM. 


Next, lunch pickup.


We went to an area overlooking the Senmaida rice terraces to have our lunch. Senmaida means "a thousand rice fields".


I bought my one and only ice cream of the trip at a cute store there. It had rice krispies-like stuff on the bottom of the cup. Some tour members had at least one ice cream cone everyday. You know who you are . . . D and A.


After our lunch we visited the Wajima Kiriko Art Museum.  The museum was brand new . . . only a few weeks old.


The museum houses beautiful huge lanterns. They are used to lead portable shrines during festivals.


The displays were impressive.












I forget what this mushroom-looking thing is.  It's big . . . two stories high.


Here's the bottom.


On the way home, our driver took us on a ride along the shoreline. And I really mean ALONG THE SHORELINE.  This is right outside our window.  


Here's a short video that I took.  Warning:  I got a little motion sick watching it, but it's very short. You should be okay . . .  Leslie.