The Kitamaebune Ship Museum tells the story of the coastal trading ships that linked Osaka, the Seto Inland Sea, the Japan Sea coast, and Hokkaido during the Edo and Meiji periods. It occupies a former merchant residence, which gives the exhibits a domestic setting rather than the feel of a modern maritime hall.
It is a good counterweight to Kaga's onsen towns and Kutani ceramics. The ships carried rice, herring, textiles, and everyday goods, but they also carried money and ideas; the museum helps explain why this quiet coastline had broader connections than its fishing villages suggest.