Welcome everyone to the beautiful, deep, rich forest here in Ishikawa Prefecture. I am here in the city of Nanao.

For today’s video I am taking you all the way through the traditions of rich history, art, festivals and even the history of love. So, lets go!

There is a gatcha machine where you can get a different figuring from the actual parade float. The guy who’s pulling it, the guy who’s stopping it or the guy who’s oiling the wheels…which one do you think I will get?

I want to get the guy who is stopping the hikiyama float. Let’s see if we can get this extra strong guy. Ready? Oh! There he is! Ready? Ahaha. Wait, oh my god. It’s not the guy I wanted but it’s the most important guy, arguably. It’s the main, director guy! Ta-da!! Alright so 100 points to all of you who guessed it correctly. To everyone else who guessed the greasy or the stopping guy like I did… *clicks tongue* better luck next time!

あーーーつい。 I don’t want to talk too loud because there are people here and I don’t want to disturb them. But I just wanted to point out that the view and the cicadas, and the view of the ocean 10 steps away. Even though the water’s hot, it feels like a truly, authentically, Japanese summer escape.

あっ。スカートまで入っちゃったーぁ。 So one of the great things about Nanao is that it is right by the bay! There’s also many different onsen that you can try. But if you’re not in the mood to get all the way down into the onsen and you just want a quick, relaxing getaway, there are footbaths that you can try throughout the city! There’s one closer inside the city but there also one, my favorite one, right here by the water. With the view of everything. And I know, I know it sounds hot. It literally sounds hot. But even in the heat, the lightly heated footbath feels like… you know when you’re really hot and you eat a hot spicy bowl of noodles and sweat it all out and feel great? Its kind of like that I guess… but its really really relaxing! See here’s the city, there’s the footbath and there we have it --- the bay! If you still cant find it from the road, you’ll know you’re getting near the footbath when you see this mascot, wakutama-kun and his 3 buddies over here. Smile for the picture! I mean, look at this guy! Who wouldn’t want to get in the footbath?!

I’m telling you they’re all over the place. Can you spot them? One there… oh! One there sitting on that bench. … and one over there! You! You look cozy! Hey! Hey you! すみません！隣いいですか？

Now we’re at another local temple at the top of these stairs.

ここから・・・ここからこう撮りますと・・・景色が・・・ So were here at the temple but I just heard this explanation that this actual area here … see this? Theres a mark on the floor showing where to stand. This hall here has become more popular as a photospot because of a photographer who took different photos here. There’s a place in Kyoto called Ruri Park that has almost the exact same backdrop. If you sit right here and the table reflects --- tada! Because it looks like another place in Kyoto this place exploded in the photography world and of course on Instagram. Ok instragrammers you heard it! Come one, come all! This is your spot!

So you heard it right from the lion’s mouth! I am OK and set to get changed. I will see you on the other side. One quick explanation, obviously this is the white traditional dress for wedding ceremonies. But there’s also this bright red one that you would change into once you’ve become part of your new family. I’m not becoming part of a new family today so I’m just going to go with the beautiful, traditional authentic, white color with a nice sparkle and embellishment. See you on the other side! Bye!

今・・七尾・・・城・・・の跡・・・へ進んでいます！ 山上っていますー！ OK everyone, welcome, we’ve made it to the top! We are sitting at what would have been the main hall of Nanao Castle, which now, as you can see, lay in ruins. Theres a shrine behind me commemorating this site and of course the monument behind me here. But the stairs that we used to come up here are in the same place of the actual stairs that they used to make it through the woods to the main hall. To think of actually making a castle in the middle of the woods, on the top of a mountain… I mean the view up here is great but WOW I can’t believe the first person who did this. It really shows a dedication to craftsmanship to make a castle here at the top of the mountains with the beautiful view. Obviously it takes a great eye but it also takes a lot of money. I’ve learned along the way that theres a lot of influence via Kyoto and merchant ships that went up and brought different culture along the west coast of Japan. That wealth and that industry has spilled over not just into the community but into the actual arts. So here in this city of Nanao learning about the 4th festival, Seihaku Festival, has brought me to another art-rich and culture-rich city. Honestly, I cant expect any less from Ishikawa Prefecture. I am thoroughly impressed and really excited because our next video is the last in the video tour seeing where the history of festivals takes us across Japan…

では、今日もご視聴ありがとうございました。またね！