A pre-trip note for Kanazawa, Toyama, and Komatsu covering the Kamakura period: the Hokuriku front of the Jōkyū War of 1221 and the Nagoe shugo line, the layers of tradition behind the Ataka barrier and Kanjinchō, Kamakura-period artifacts of Tateyama worship, and Shinran's Jōdo Shinshū in later Hokuriku history.

A pre-trip note for Kanazawa, Toyama, and Komatsu covering the Heian period: the founding of Kaga Province in 823, a governor's working visit recorded in the Tamefusa-kyō-ki, the rise of Hakusan and Tateyama worship, and the 1183 Battle of Kurikara Pass that pushed the Hokuriku road onto the national stage.

A pre-trip note for Kanazawa, Toyama, and Komatsu covering the Nara period: the Etchū provincial capital and Ōtomo no Yakamochi's Man'yō poems, the Tōdai-ji estate maps, Bohai envoys on the Japan Sea coast, and why the written record differs so much across the three areas.

A travel note for Komatsu, Kanazawa, and Toyama that organizes the Asuka period, the spread of Buddhism and writing culture, and the archaeological evidence for settlement, production, administration, ritual, and tomb change in the three cities.

The first Hokuriku history-and-culture note for our upcoming trip to Kanazawa, Toyama, and Komatsu, bringing together the key sites, Toyama's shakoki-dogu, and the archaeological context from the Paleolithic, Jomon, Yayoi, and Kofun periods.

The final day of our Fukuoka family trip: we flew home from Fukuoka Airport, with some closing reflections on traveling with our daughter—how she did with eating and with walking on her own.

Day 4 of our Fukuoka family trip: a private charter day touring the Kyushu Natural Animal Park (African Safari), where we rode the Jungle Bus to feed lions, elephants and camels up close, then visited Lake Kinrin and the old streets of Yufuin in the afternoon.

Day 3 of our Fukuoka family trip: we visited Dazaifu Tenmangu Shrine, touched the sacred ox and drew a daikichi fortune, tried the famous umegae mochi, then headed back to Tenjin to browse LOFT and enjoy the evening illuminations and German Christmas markets.