title: Hokuriku Tales vol.3

Summary

A book of five stories about Fukui, Ishikawa and Toyama with useful data vol.3

Chapter IIICulinary quest in HokurikuPart 2. Snow-mountain water:quality water makes quality foodsThe deep snow that falls over Tateyama, Hakusan and the other high mountains of Hokuriku melts andforms river streams and subsoil water that nourish the villages and towns. The subsoil water absorbsminute quantities of minerals, which make it ideal for making good sake and for preparing delicious foodsand dishes. The geographical advantage of Hokuriku, from the perspective of good quality water, is thepresence of many rapid currents and alluvial fans. Let us now explore the close relationship between thegood water and delicious foods of Hokuriku.(left) Mt. Hakusan has been admired as a god of water since old days(top right) The water fountain of the Zemmeiji Temple springs out of a subsoil stream of the Kurobe River (Ikuji district of Kurobe City)(bottom right) Early summer in the Gorge of the Kuzuryu River, which originates in Mt. HakusanToyamaThe quality water makes the rustic sweet so tastyShozu at Shimizuan was reportedlynamed by the haiku poet MatsuoBashoThis is the Ikuji district of Kurobe City in Toyama. The old port town hasmany fountains of water that come from the subsoil streams of the Kurobe River.In the Ikuji district alone, there are 20 such fountains that bear the local name ofShozu. In addition, many families have water wells dug in their yards and someof them have declined to be connected to the city’s public water works.Surprisingly enough, each fountain water tastes different. According to Ms.Kiyomi Komeya, an official Ikuji town walking guide, many local residents cantell which fountain the water is from if the test samples are all kept at the sametemperature, say, 11 degrees Celsius.“Everybody of course claims his/her Shozuis the best. I know of no other communities that are so deeply committed to thetaste of water as ours,”she says.24 Hokuriku Tales vol.3