Trains no longer run up to the north coast, while bus schedules are sparse and fares are expensive. Noto is one of those few bits of Japan where having your own wheels will come in very handy. There are infrequent services from Kanazawa's railway station to most larger towns in Noto. Onward services to Wajima and Takojima have been terminated. From either Nanao or Wakura, you can transfer onto the privately run Noto Railway to Anamizu. There are daily direct expresses from Ueno (Tokyo), Osaka and Nagoya to Wakura Onsen, and roughly hourly local services from Kanazawa as far as Nanao (1:30, ¥1280).

The JR Noto Line putters up from Tsubata on the JR Hokuriku Main Line to Nanao, terminating a stop north at Wakura Onsen. The new airport, which is absurdly oversized given the amount of traffic it receives, is located just south of Wajima and is served by a shared taxi system, with rides to/from anywhere on the peninsula costing 700-1800 yen depending on the distance.Īlternatively, the considerably larger airports at Komatsu and Toyama are both roughly two hours away by car. Noto Airport ( IATA: NTQ) fields two ANA daily flights (50 min) to Tokyo (Haneda). While most things are back to business as usual, some businesses have shut down for inspections, repairs or just lack of tourists, so it's best to confirm any plans for accommodation in advance. In March 2007, Noto was hit by a strong earthquake that caused significant damage to the northern part of the peninsula, particularly Wajima. To this day the west coast, battered continuously by the harsh Sea of Japan, is rugged and thinly populated by scattered fishing villages, while the more sheltered east coast around Nanao Bay houses the bulk of the population. 志雄路からただ越え来れば羽咋の海朝凪したり船梶もがも From the Shiwo Road across the mountains to the morning calm of the sea at Hakuhi - I wish I had a boat! (Man'yoshu 17/4025) 妹に逢はず久しくなりぬ饒石川きよき瀬ごとに水占はへてな Away from my wife for so long - the clear rapids of Ishikawa shall tell my fortune (Man'yoshu 17/4028) In 745, he was appointed governor of Etchu Province (today's Toyama), and the poems he wrote during his six-year stay often lament the harshness of his remote posting far away from the splendors of the capital: Its first and most famous chronicler was Ōtomo no Yakamochi (大伴家持), an 8th century poet and bureaucrat best known for compiling a large part of the Man'yoshu, Japan's first anthology of poems. Noto is one of the most remote bits of mainland Japan. Suzu - on the furthestmost tip of the Noto Peninsula.Wakura Onsen - 1200-year-old hot spring town by the seaside.Wajima - known for lacquerware and its morning market of over 200 stalls.Nanao - provincial seat of government in ancient times.Anamizu - famous for cultivated oysters.The Noto Peninsula ( 能登半島 Noto-hantō) is in Ishikawa prefecture, Japan.

Noto peninsula