Stone Picking by the Sea in Ishikawa, Wavy Tsubo Stones – Part 2 | Memories No. 120 |

Stone picking trip｜Ishikawa prefecture coast

November 16, 2022.
Continuing from last time.
Suddenly, the sea.
ANDO did his best, but there were no stones. This is Senrihama Nagisa Driveway, a tourist spot.
Even though there were no stones, I was delighted to be by the sea and got out of the car. As I eagerly searched the shoreline for a miraculous stone, a wave hit me. Carelessness. Seawater and sand seeped into my Gore-Tex boots from the top. Before I could even start stone picking, my feet were soaked and gritty.

We kept heading north towards our target beach. The sky was cloudy, and with little time left, I was getting anxious. I knew it was all my fault.

Despite all the bad things I wrote, ANDO had actually planned everything perfectly. He had prepared a golden plan that included just the right amount of sightseeing, a visit to a museum with stones to deepen my stone knowledge, and then finally, stone picking. To all the companies out there, why did you let him go? It’s okay if he drinks a bit too much water.

The view was great… but I had a feeling the sun was starting to set. It wasn’t just my imagination. We drove faster, and finally, we were getting close to the first beach.

The sea. We’ve arrived.

Stones, found.
Oh, Stone God. ANDO. Thank you. This moment is the greatest joy.

Zazazan zan.

It’s a bit cloudy, so it’s hard to tell, but the water seems clear. A beautiful sea.

I start picking up stones right away.
Korokoro koro~.

At first glance, most of the stones are gray. Yet, strangely, it doesn’t feel like a parking lot. I’ll explain the parking lot beach in another diary entry. Why is this? I feel a mysterious aura emanating from the coast.

A closer look reveals that while the predominant color is gray, there are scattered orange stones among them. I’ve never seen orange stones like these, except for agates. They appear to be dense and hard. In other words, the quality of the stones is impeccable.

Further close-up reveals not only gray and orange stones but also matte, whitish stones. The intermingling of gray and white creates intriguing patterns. It’s fascinating. These stones are very interesting. I’ve never seen a coastline like this, not in Fukui or Niigata. Not even in Shizuoka. While Aomori’s Nishiki stone boasts exceptional patterns and quality, the direction here feels completely unique, exuding an unparalleled atmosphere.

That’s right! This coastline was actually recommended by Mr. Ishizuki, whom I mentioned in the diary two entries ago (“Undulating Stones, Beautiful Sea, Stone Collecting in Fukui After Three Years | Memory No. 119”). When ANDO and I decided to travel to Ishikawa, I consulted Mr. Ishizuki, who provided us with several stone-spotting locations. He even pinned them on Google Maps and gave detailed instructions. It was like having a treasure map! I shared all of this with ANDO beforehand, and we’ve been incorporating these spots into our journey as much as possible.

The photos may not convey it, but the location here is excellent, comparable to Aomori, Shimane, and Fukui. It feels like visiting a hidden sanctuary of stones. Mr. Ishizuki tends to prefer picking up more subdued stones. I think he and Sarabred K would get along well. What’s with this “stone energy” anyway?

More and more stones to pick up. Rolling, rolling, rolling…

Come to think of it, what is ANDO doing? Is he also picking up stones? I was so focused that I forgot about him.

Here comes a unpleasant memory. Matthew, the desecrator of stones, the enemy of stones, the evil to stones. (Classmates and stone picking by the river in Shizuoka Prefecture | Memory #19)

When we went stone picking together, Matthew kept picking up stones and throwing them, over and over again, without understanding what was good about the stones I picked up, giving me a look of complete bewilderment.

Although his attitude didn’t sway my passion for stones, and he wasn’t explicitly rejecting stones, there was a palpable disregard for them. It interfered with entering the stone picking zone, which is already difficult to access. Perhaps when Mr. Ishizuki or Mr. Asakarasu land on a stone beach, all distractions vanish, and they enter the stone zone immediately. That must be the case, absolutely.

ANDO, what’s the deal? Please, just don’t give the stones and me the same cold look that Matthew did. When I glanced at ANDO, he seemed to be half-heartedly pretending to pick up stones, which was at least more positive than Matthew’s attitude. Still, I worried he might soon toss them away.

Before that could happen, I decided to approach ANDO and ask to see the stones he had picked up. To my surprise, they weren’t bad at all. While the average quality of stones on this beach is undoubtedly high, ANDO had managed to find some pretty interesting ones. ANDO is a cheerful and boisterous guy, and perhaps that character is reflected in the stones he picks up.

Even so, considering this is just the first beach of the day, it seems like the sun is about to set. And there are several more beaches waiting ahead. It’s just troubling. This beach is even more splendid than I imagined. There’s no guarantee that the stones on the other beaches will surpass this one. This dilemma always accompanies me when I plan to visit multiple beaches for stone collecting. It’s troubling, truly troubling.

No, let’s decide to finish up here after picking a few more stones. That’s what I resolved, amidst my dilemma.

The stones I picked up look like this. I quickly arranged them into a set of twelve stones.

While I used to select stones individually in the past, recently I’ve found myself choosing them as a set of twelve more often. Stones sometimes shine unexpectedly when arranged together in harmony with their surroundings. I anticipate this depth of character, arrangement, and the strength of the stones as a scene, and select them accordingly. The set of twelve stones has become not only a collection of stones but also a method of choosing them.

I’m aware that this diary is delving deeper into an increasingly incomprehensible world, but there’s no stopping now. Let’s go to the end, to wherever it leads.

However, it’s amazing. Too amazing. The stones of Ishikawa.

Three black stones arranged from the upper left to the lower right. These are petrified wood. Moreover, they are even blacker than the ones I picked up in Aomori or Fukui. Jet black. Beautiful. I had heard that there were many petrified woods around here, but I didn’t expect there to be so many.

Another lineup, twelve stones. I gathered mainly orange, light gray, and cloudy white stones. I’ve never seen this type of stone on any other beach.

After gazing at the stones for a while, ANDO came over and said, ‘Take a look at this stone.

DON. A stone resembling a slice of onion. It’s big. It’s hard to convey in a photo without a comparison, but it’s quite a large stone. It seems that ANDO has a tendency to pick up large stones. Lately, I’ve been picking up smaller stones, so I’ve been ignoring such large ones. ANDO is bold. He showed me another stone.

Pot. No, it’s a stone. What’s with this mysterious shape and pattern? And once again, it’s big.

The pattern is wavy, wavy, wavy, wavy.

And the back is also hazy, wavy, wavy, wavy.
Then ANDO picks up the stone and starts moving slowly.

Ga-chakon.
Ga-chakon?

Ga-chakon.
The stone fits snugly into the hole in the embankment. It fits so perfectly, it’s uncanny. ANDO has an exceptional sense of stones and a playful spirit.

Ga-chakon. It sounded like the secret door somewhere had opened. Perhaps it’s the legend of the stone.
ANDO’s stone collecting might just be the catalyst to awaken the forgotten innocence and playfulness in me when it comes to stones.

A bonus: Two additional stones I picked up. The one on the left has straight layers, while the one on the right has wavy layers. Although there are many layered stones in Fukui as well, these give off a different impression.

With this, the stone picking on this beach comes to an end.