Noto locals pin hopes on return of tourists to hasten quake recovery – Ishikawa Prefecture
Like many other parts of Japan, the Noto Peninsula had been enjoying a post-pandemic recovery in tourism before a magnitude-7.6 quake on New Year’s Day drastically changed its trajectory. Wajima, one of the hardest hit cities in Ishikawa Prefecture, was once a popular base for exploring the peninsula, with its rich artisan culture of lacquerware, morning market and rice fields drawing visitors from around the world. Now the streets around the city’s famous morning market, gutted by a major blaze that broke out following the quake, are lined with collapsed buildings and charred debris, with roads leading into its most famous sites severely damaged.
Among the more than 200 people who died in the disaster, 98 were in Wajima, with 15 in the city still unaccounted for. In the nearby city of Nanao, where an earthquake registered 6 on the country’s seismic intensity scale of 7, numerous tile-roofed townhouses on the centuries-old Ipponsugi-dori shopping street are in various states of ruination. Even the surface of the landmark Sentai Bridge is lifted and cracked in parts.
While the damage in the city’s famous Wakura Onsen hot spring resort town is not as severe as in Wajima and Suzu, the path to recovery remains uncertain, according to Atsushi Endo, executive and administrative director of Nanao Nakanoto DMO, an organization promoting tourism in the area. With running water still not restored to large parts of the peninsula, many are simply taking the challenges they face day by day, with any light yet to appear at the end of the tunnel.
“All industries have come to a standstill, and there are quite a few people who may have lost their jobs. We haven’t been able to grasp the current situation,” said Hajime Koyama, director of the inbound tourism team at Noto DMC. The business-to-business travel company, which specializes in tailored Noto Peninsula tours, helped plan trips for over 500 foreign visitors in 2023, with many wealthy travellers from countries like France, Canada and the United States utilizing their services. The prefectural capital of Kanazawa, some 95 kilometres south of Wajima, has become a popular tourist stop on the new “Golden Route” that passes along the Sea of Japan coast on the way from Tokyo to Kyoto.
According to Koyama, the Noto Peninsula saw around 50,000 international visitors before the pandemic in 2019, with figures for last year likely to have also reached the same level. But with the earthquake and ensuing chaos keeping tourists away, Koyama said his company is currently focusing on helping the area make a quick recovery while remaining prepared to once again receive visitors.
With daily news reports detailing the devastation causing the number of domestic travellers to Kanazawa to plummet despite the city being relatively unscathed, foreign tourists have kept arriving. At the popular Higashi Chaya district, the largest of the city’s historical geisha districts, Taiwanese tour groups and other foreign travellers continue to crowd the streets.
Indeed, many on the peninsula are pinning their hopes on Kanazawa to give tourism another much-needed kick-start, in the hopes that money spent will flow into Noto as well, said Nanao Nakanoto DMO’s Endo, who also called on the central government to present clear reconstruction support measures as soon as possible to give everyone a sense of direction. Despite the future of the largely destroyed Wajima morning market remaining uncertain, Nagatake Tomizu, who heads an association supporting the market, said the attraction will likely become “a symbol of recovery.”
More heavy snow expected in parts of Japan after 800 vehicles trapped on expressway – Gifu Prefecture
Weather officials in Japan predicted more heavy snow, a day after nearly 800 vehicles were trapped for hours on an expressway in central Japan. The 6-kilometer traffic jam happened after two trailers got stuck in the snow, forcing soldiers to come in and help free the vehicles.
Japan’s Meteorological Agency said as much as 60 centimetres of snow could fall in the Tohoku region through Friday, according to Japan’s Kyodo news agency, with heavy snow also expected on the northern island of Hokkaido and in other areas.
The traffic jam occurred on the Meishin Expressway in Gifu Prefecture. Two children in a stranded vehicle became sick and were taken to a hospital, Kyodo reported. The Central Nippon Expressway Co closed the road and mobilized snowploughs and tow trucks to clear the stranded vehicles, while delivering snacks, drinking water and portable toilets for those trapped. The Ground Self-Defense Force, Japan’s army, dispatched troops to join relief efforts at the request of the governor of Gifu.
Cold air from the west formed a cold front that caused heavy snow to fall in Japan’s north-central region. The severe weather also led to accidents in a number of locations.
