Uchinada Town, Kahoku County, Ishikawa

Uchinada is a small beach town north of Kanazawa. It's home to the second largest sand dunes in Japan (though you may not notice it) and is actually an island connected to the mainland by several bridges.

Kanazawa Medical University is also located in Uchinada, near the newly built Sunset Bridge.

Things to see and do:

Surfing - Uchinada is a beach town, so there are plenty of opportunities to surf and swim. The beach is about a 10 minute walk from the train station. If you are interested in surfing, there are rental places located on the beach.

Horseback riding - (Sorry I don't know the details, but it is available)

Sports Complex - Uchinada has a great sports complex which includes a cycling terminal, indoor pool, gym, and tennis courts. There is also an onsen nearby. Located across Sunset Bridge.

Events:

World Kite Festival - First weekend of May, on the beach. Great opportunity to see communities of people from all over the world gather for kite-flying. Local neighborhoods, clubs, and schools also spend a lot of time preparing for this festival by making their own kites. Great chance to see some beautiful Japanese designs!

Things to eat:

Uchinada is a haven for eating! (Unfortunately, I can't give details on where these places are exactly since there are no road names or I just don't know them.)

Indian - Rubina - Located across from the town libary, near city hall. Authentic Indian food in a great setting!
Chinese - Ryumon - under Seiko bridge. Ramen, stir fry, rice dishes, etc. Minrai - near Uchinada train station on the main road. Little place which is open only for a few hours a day, but as close to authentic as you can get in Japan. Open from 11:45 - 1pm, 5 - 9pm (or until it sells out). Gyoza, fried rice plates, ramen, stir fry.

Japanese - Haneya - near the train station on the main road. (Before the shoe store) Reasonable and delicious lunch sets - sushi, tempura, etc. Very popular and can be crowded.

Ramen - Fujisan (sp?) - next to the train station
Oku - Near the city hall. Very good spicy ramen!

Southeast Asian - Animal Logic - located near the hospital Steak - Ishikawamon - Near the train station, off a side street towards the beach. (sorry bad directions)
Tonkatsu - (name unknown) Across from the hospital. People working here are not very friendly, but my friend said that is because they are experts at what they do, and all "experts" act cold.
Japanese Western (spaghetti, omelette rice, curry, "hamburger") - Kubota - on the road which runs from the school to the bridge. Cafe type atmosphere, reasonable prices.
Bread and pastries - Bongu - On main road, past Sunkus, before the video store. Closed Thursdays.
Soleil - On road towards the beach from the train station.
Bars - Nazca Line - Pseudo-Mexican style food in a cozy setting. Friendly guy runs the whole place by himself.

How to get there:
From Kanazawa Station, take the Hokutetsu Asanogawa train to the last stop, Uchinada. It takes 17 minutes and costs 310 yen.
There are also buses available but they are less frequent.
By car, Uchinada is about 20-25 minutes from Kanazawa.

Link to Uchinada's homepage in Japanese:
http://www.nsknet.or.jp/uchinada/

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