title: Hokuriku Tales vol.3

Summary

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

Toyama Bay is famous for the appearance of miragesThe buried forest is witness to the dynamism of EarthToyama Bay has two mysterious natural phenomena:a mirage and a buried forest.Mirages appears in Toyama Bay rather frequently, mostly in spring time. TheUozu Buried Forest is an old growth forest of cedars estimated to be some 2,000years old, which is now under water. It is believed that the forest was coveredby the mud and sand that was washed away by the flooding of the KatakaiRiver, followed by a rise in sea level. Neither the mirages nor the buried forestare particularly unique to Toyama Bay, but their scale and fame can be said tobe number one in Japan (Uozu Buried Forest is among the One HundredGeosites in Japan).At the Uozu Buried Forest Museum, you can watch filmed mirages, touchsalvaged and dried cedar roots, and observe in a pool the buried forest preservedas it was discovered under water.Why are there so many strange-shaped islands and cliffsin the Uchiura (or inner sea) of the Noto Peninsula?Mitsukejima Island (also known as Gunkan-jima or warship island), a point ofinterest in Oku Noto, is made up of diatomaceous earth, a sediment ofphytoplankton. In the Noto Peninsula, there are many spots where diatomaceousearth is exposed. Beside MitsukejimaIsland, similarly unique toweringisland shapes are found near WakuraOnsen and Notojima Island. Suchstrange islands were formed becausediatomaceous earth is soft and fragile.Diatomaceous earth is an excellentmaterial for stoves and firebricks. NotoPeninsula has the largest reserve inJapan and Noto Diatomaceous Earthhas been included in the One HundredGeosites in Japan.Commonly called Gunkanjima because of its shape,the scenic beauty of Mitsukejima in Oku Noto is madeentirely of diatomaceous earth.34 Hokuriku Tales vol.3