Quasi-National Park

国定公園 - On this sign post, the smaller characters on the right read "Noto Hant? Kokutei K?en." "Noto Hantō" means Noto Peninsula, and "Kokutei Kōen" means Quasi-National Park. The word "hantō" literally means half island.

A quasi-national park is like a second-tier national park. The top-ranking national parks called "Kokuritsu Kōen" are defined to be natural areas of beauty rated as world-class. Meanwhile, the quasi-national park is not regarded as "world-class," but it is still beautiful enough to be designated as a national park. The large characters on the left say "Sekinohana," the name of this scenic coast.

There are over 50 quasi-national parks in Japan. In addition, there are prefectural parks designated by the local governor. These are areas of natural beauty recognized by the prefecture, but are not as magnificent as national and quasi-national parks.

Place: Noto Peninsula, Ishikawa Pref.