Noto Peninsula
Encyclopedia
Noto Peninsula is a peninsula that projects north into the Sea of Japan
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is a marginal sea of the western Pacific Ocean, between the Asian mainland, the Japanese archipelago and Sakhalin. It is bordered by Japan, North Korea, Russia and South Korea. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it has almost no tides due to its nearly complete enclosure from the Pacific...
from the coast of Ishikawa prefecture
Ishikawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region on Honshū island. The capital is Kanazawa.- History :Ishikawa was formed from the merger of Kaga Province and the smaller Noto Province.- Geography :Ishikawa is on the Sea of Japan coast...
in central Honshū
Honshu
is the largest island of Japan. The nation's main island, it is south of Hokkaido across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyushu across the Kanmon Strait...
, the main island of Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. The main industries of the peninsula are agriculture, fisheries, tourism, and nuclear power generation.
Name
Noto has no meaning in Japanese. It appears to come from AinuAinu languages
The Ainu languages were a small language family spoken on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaidō, the southern half of the island of Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands, an island chain that stretches from Hokkaidō to the southern tip of the Kamchatka Peninsula. They are alternately considered a...
, where not means 'peninsula'; the final -o is presumably a paragogic
Paragoge
Paragoge , adj. paragogic , is the addition of a sound to the end of a word. Often, this is due to nativization. It is a type of epenthesis, most commonly vocalic epenthesis.-Diachronic paragoge:...
echo vowel
Echo vowel
In speech, an echo vowel is a vowel that repeats the final vowel in a word. For example, in Chumash, when a word ends with a glottal stop and comes at the end of an intonation unit, the final vowel is repeated after the glottal stop, but is whispered and faint, as in for "arrow" . In Rukai , echo...
, since the Japanese language does not allow final consonants.
Three Regions
The area of the Noto Peninsula is divided into 3 regions.Kuchi-Noto (Entrance of Noto):South part of the area. Hakui City
Hakui, Ishikawa
is a city located in Ishikawa, Japan.- General :As of June 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 23,682 with 8,368 households and a density of 288.95 persons per km². The total area is 81.96 km².The city was founded on July 1, 1958.- Name :...
, Kahoku City
Kahoku, Ishikawa
is a city in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.As of October 1, 2004, the city has an estimated population of 35,401 and a density of 547 persons per km². The total area is 64.76 km²....
, Hōdatsu-shimizu Town
Hodatsushimizu, Ishikawa
is a town located in Hakui District, Ishikawa, Japan. It is one hour from Kanazawa, Ishikawa by Nanao Line.Hōdatsushimizu was formed March 1, 2005 from the merger of the towns of Oshimizu and Shio, both from Hakui District...
, Shika Town
Shika, Ishikawa
is a town located in Hakui District, Ishikawa, Japan. It is one and a half hours from Kanazawa by car. National highway 249 goes through Shika.As of August 2011, the town has a registered population of 23,177...
Naka-Noto (Middle of Noto):Middle part of the area. Nanao City
Nanao, Ishikawa
is a city located in Ishikawa prefecture, Japan.As of March 1, 2010, the city has an estimated population of 58,204 and a population density of 183 persons per km². Nanao is the fifth largest city by population in Ishikawa, behind Kanazawa, Hakusan, Komatsu, and Kaga.Nanao is situated in the...
, Wakura Onsen Resort, Naka-Noto Town
Nakanoto, Ishikawa
is a town located in Kashima District, Ishikawa, Japan. It is the only municipality in the district. The town was founded on March 1, 2005 from the merger of three towns in the district: Kashima, Rokusei, and Toriya....
, Tatsuruhama
Tatsuruhama, Ishikawa
was a town located in Kashima District, Ishikawa, Japan.On October 1, 2004 Tatsuruhama, along with the towns of Nakajima and Notojima, all from Kashima District, was merged into the expanded city of Nanao and no longer exists as an independent municipality....
Oku-Noto (Depths of Noto):North part of the area. Wajima City
Wajima, Ishikawa
is a city located in Ishikawa, Japan.As of 2008, the city has an estimated population of 31,532 and the density of 74 persons per km². The total area is 426.25 km².The city was founded on March 31, 1954....
, Monzen Town
Monzen, Ishikawa
was a town located in Hōsu District , Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.As of 2003, the town had an estimated population of 7,512 and a density of 47.68 persons per km². The total area was 157.56 km²....
, Suzu City
Suzu, Ishikawa
is a city located at the northeasternmost tip of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa, Japan. The city is the proposed site of the Suzu Nuclear Power Plant; however, in 2003 the proposal was "frozen" until further notice....
, Noto Town
Noto, Ishikawa
Noto was a town located in Fugeshi District, Ishikawa, Japan.On March 1, 2005 Noto was merged with the village of Yanagida, both from Fugeshi District, and the town of Uchiura, from Suzu District, to form the new town of Noto, in the newly-created Hōsu District, Ishikawa and no longer exists as...
, Anamizu Town
Anamizu, Ishikawa
is a town located in Hōsu District , Ishikawa, Japan.As of 2008, the town has an estimated population of 10,193 and a density of 55.63 persons per km². The total area is 183.24 km²....
, Noto Island
Notojima, Ishikawa
was a town located in Kashima District, Ishikawa, Japan.On October 1, 2004 Notojima, along with the towns of Tatsuruhama and Nakajima, all from Kashima District, was merged into the expanded city of Nanao and no longer exists as an independent municipality....
Famous spots
Wakura OnsenOnsen
An is a term for hot springs in the Japanese language, though the term is often used to describe the bathing facilities and inns around the hot springs. As a volcanically active country, Japan has thousands of onsen scattered along its length and breadth...
:Located in Nanao City, this onsen (or "hot springs") is a famous health resort. The JR Nanao Line also terminates here.
Keta Great Shrine:Located in Hakui City and well-known as a shrine for finding a lover and for a good marriage.
Wajima Morning Market: This market is held in the center of Wajima City. Shoppers can buy a variety of fresh fish and vegetables cheaply.
Soji Temple:located in Monzen Town, is a head temple of Sōtō
Soto
Sōtō Zen , or is, with Rinzai and Ōbaku, one of the three most populous sects of Zen in Japanese Buddhism.The Sōtō sect was first established as the Caodong sect during the Tang Dynasty in China by Dongshan Liangjie in the 9th century, which Dōgen Zenji then brought to Japan in the 13th century...
Zen Buddhism. Here there are also older cathedrals, as well as a newer one located in Kanagawa Prefecture
Kanagawa Prefecture
is a prefecture located in the southern Kantō region of Japan. The capital is Yokohama. Kanagawa is part of the Greater Tokyo Area.-History:The prefecture has some archaeological sites going back to the Jōmon period...
.
Mitsuke Jima: Meaning "found island" it is located in Suzu City. The name comes from the legend in which Saint Kukai
Kukai
Kūkai , also known posthumously as , 774–835, was a Japanese monk, civil servant, scholar, poet, and artist, founder of the Shingon or "True Word" school of Buddhism. Shingon followers usually refer to him by the honorific titles of and ....
found his magic stick here.
Unoke:Located in Kahoku City, the first office computer in Japan was manufactured by Unoke Electronics (now PFU), which was established in this town.
Anamizu:Known as one of the places where Percival Lowell
Percival Lowell
Percival Lawrence Lowell was a businessman, author, mathematician, and astronomer who fueled speculation that there were canals on Mars, founded the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, and formed the beginning of the effort that led to the discovery of Pluto 14 years after his death...
made a stay during his visit to Japan, a memorial hall dedicated to him stands on a small hill near Anamizu Bay.
In film
The Noto Peninsula features prominently in the Japanese film noir "Zero Focus" (Zero no Shoten, 1961), directed by Yoshitara Nomura. The film features breathtaking footage of the peninsula's coast, along with an interesting dissection of the area's social distinctions. Noto Peninsula is also the setting of Koreeda Hirokazu's second film MaborosiMaborosi
Maborosi, known in Japan as Maboroshi no Hikari is a 1995 Japanese film by director Hirokazu Koreeda starring Makiko Esumi, Tadanobu Asano and Takashi Naitō...
.
Transportation
JR Nanao Line comes from KanazawaKanazawa Station
Kanazawa Station is a JR West railway station located in the city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. It is the biggest station in Ishikawa Prefecture....
to Wakura Onsen Station
Wakura Onsen Station
is a railway station located in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.-Line:* JR West** Nanao Line* Noto Railway** Nanao Line-Adjacent stations:-External links:* *...
via Unoke, Hakui, Nanao
Nanao Station
is a railway station located in Nanao, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.-Line:* JR West** Nanao Line* Noto Railway** Nanao Line-Adjacent stations:-External links:...
.
Noto Railway
Noto Railway
is a railway company on the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.Noto Railway is a third sector company, which means a corporation jointly funded by private entities and local governments...
:Small local railway from Wakura to Anamizu.
Noto Airport
Noto Airport
, also unofficially known as is a domestic airport located south southeast of the city of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.The airport is a four-story building with two jetways...
:Located between Anamizu and Wajima. Air line to Tokyo International Airport
Tokyo International Airport
, commonly known as , is one of the two primary airports that serve the Greater Tokyo Area in Japan. It is located in Ōta, Tokyo, south of Tokyo Station....
.
Noto Tollway:Stretches from Kanazawa to Anamizu Town.
No-etu Expressway (partly opened): Comes from Oyabe
Oyabe, Toyama
is a city located in Toyama, Japan.As of May 1, 2011, the city has an estimated population of 32,161, with a household number of 9,838, and a density of 239.81 persons per km². The total area is 134.11 km².The city was founded on August 1, 1962....
(Toyama
Toyama Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Hokuriku region on Honshū island. The capital is the city of Toyama.Toyama is the leading industrial prefecture on the Japan Sea coast, and has the industrial advantage of cheap electricity due to abundant water resources....
) to Wajima via Nanao and Noto Airport.
Suzu Road:A free elongation of the Noto Tollway, from Anamizu to Suzu.
Route 249:National road that stretches around the Noto Peninsula.
Products
Wajima-nuri:Famous for beautiful Japanese lacquerwareJapanese lacquerware
Japanese lacquerware is a broad category of fine and decorative arts, as lacquer has been used in paintings, prints, and on a wide variety of objects from Buddha statues to bento boxes for food.A number of terms are used in Japanese to refer to lacquerware...
produced around Wajima City.
Ishiri:A special fish sauce used for local dishes.
Kan-buri: A fish (Japanese amberjack
Japanese amberjack
The Japanese amberjack or yellowtail, Seriola quinqueradiata, is a fish in the family Carangidae. It is native to the northwest Pacific, from Japan to Hawaii....
) that is eaten in winter. Yellowtails are called by different names as they grow. In Noto, they are called "Kozokura" -> "Fukuragi" -> "Ganto" -> "Buri".
Potato cakes: There are many confectioners of this cake located in Oku-Noto.
Events
On March 25, 2007, the 2007 Noto earthquake2007 Noto earthquake
At 9:42 a.m. on March 25, 2007, the , a magnitude 6.9 earthquake, struck the Hokuriku region of Japan, near the Noto Peninsula. The earthquake shook the city of Nanao and the town of Anamizu with a seismic intensity of 6+ on Japan's shindo scale. One death, in the city of Wajima, and at least 214...
shook the peninsula, causing one death and at least 170 injuries.