is a
city
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
located in
Ishikawa Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,140,573 (31 October 2019) and has a geographic area of 4,186 km2 (1,616 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
. , the city had an estimated
population
Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...
of 27,698 in 12768 households, and a
population density
Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...
of 65 persons per km². The total area of the city was .
Geography
Wajima occupies the northwestern coast of
Noto Peninsula
The Noto Peninsula (能登半島, ''Noto-hantō'') is a peninsula that projects north into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The main industries of the peninsula are agricultur ...
and is bordered by the
Sea of Japan
The Sea of Japan is the marginal sea between the Japanese archipelago, Sakhalin, the Korean Peninsula, and the mainland of the Russian Far East. The Japanese archipelago separates the sea from the Pacific Ocean. Like the Mediterranean Sea, it h ...
on the north and west. Parts of the city are within the borders of the
Noto Hantō Quasi-National Park
is a quasi-national park covering a portion of Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture and Toyama Prefecture in Japan. It is rated a protected landscape (category V) according to the IUCN.
in the northern half of Ishikawa Prefecture, extends a ...
. The island of
Hegurajima, located 47 kilometers from the north coast of Noto Peninsula is administratively part of the city of Wajima.
Neighbouring municipalities
Ishikawa Prefecture:
Suzu,
Noto
Noto ( scn, Notu; la, Netum) is a city and in the Province of Syracuse, Sicily, Italy. It is southwest of the city of Syracuse at the foot of the Iblean Mountains. It lends its name to the surrounding area Val di Noto. In 2002 Noto and i ...
,
Shika, and
Anamizu.
Climate
Wajima has a
humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...
(Köppen ''Cfa'') characterized by mild summers and cold winters with heavy snowfall. The average annual temperature in Wajima is . The average annual rainfall is ; September is the wettest month. The temperatures are highest on average in August, at around , and lowest in January, at around .
Demographics
Per Japanese census data, the population of Wajima has declined by roughly 50 percent over the past 50 years.
History
The area around Wajima was part of ancient
Noto Province
was a province of Japan in the area that is today the northern part of Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan, including the Noto Peninsula (''Noto-hantō'') which is surrounded by the Sea of Japan. Noto bordered on Etchū and Kaga provinces to the so ...
, and was a noted seaport for trade with the Asian continent. During the
Sengoku Period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615.
The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the ...
(1467–1568), the area was contested between the
Hatakeyama clan
The was a Japanese samurai clan. Originally a branch of the Taira clan and descended from Taira no Takamochi, they fell victim to political intrigue in 1205, when Hatakeyama Shigeyasu, first, and his father Shigetada later were killed in battle ...
,
Uesugi clan
The is a Japanese samurai clan which was at its peak one of the most powerful during the Muromachi and Sengoku periods (14th to 17th centuries). Appert, Georges. (1888) ''Ancien Japon,'' p. 79./ref> At its height, the clan had three main branch ...
and
Maeda clan
was a Japanese samurai clan who occupied most of the Hokuriku region of central Honshū from the end of the Sengoku period through the Meiji restoration of 1868. The Maeda claimed descent from the Sugawara clan of Sugawara no Kiyotomo and Sugaw ...
, with the area becoming part of
Kaga Domain under the
Edo period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteriz ...
Tokugawa shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia ...
. It remained a noted seaport for the
Kitamaebune
The was a shipping route (and also the ships involved) in Japan from the Edo period to the Meiji era. The route went from Osaka through the Seto Inland Sea and the Kanmon Straits to ports in Hokuriku on the Sea of Japan and later to Hokkaidō.
...
coastal trade between
Osaka
is a designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the third most populous city in Japan, following Special wards of Tokyo and Yokohama. With a population of 2. ...
and
Hokkaido
is Japan's second largest island and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by the undersea railway Seikan Tunnel.
The la ...
.
Following the
Meiji restoration
The , referred to at the time as the , and also known as the Meiji Renovation, Revolution, Regeneration, Reform, or Renewal, was a political event that restored practical imperial rule to Japan in 1868 under Emperor Meiji. Although there were ...
, the area was organised into
Hōsu and
Fugeshi districts. The town of Wajima was established with the creation of the modern municipalities system on April 1, 1889. It was raised to city status on March 31, 1954 after merging with the neighbouring villages of Oya, Kawarada, Konosu, Nishiho, Mii, and Najimi. On February 1, 2006, the town of
Monzen was merged into Wajima.
On March 25, 2007, the
2007 Noto earthquake caused one death, 279-356 injuries (26 of them seriously), and damage to property in Wajima and other parts of Ishikawa Prefecture. Around 6,056 houses were affected by the quake, 476 of them were completely destroyed.
Government
Wajima has a
mayor-council form of government with a directly-elected mayor and a
unicameral
Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one.
Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multic ...
city legislature of 20 members.
Economy
Commercial fishing
Commercial fishing is the activity of catching fish and other seafood for commercial profit, mostly from wild fisheries. It provides a large quantity of food to many countries around the world, but those who practice it as an industry must often ...
, tourism, agriculture and the production of lacquerware are mainstays of the local economy.
Education
Wajima has ten public elementary schools and three middle schools operated by the city government, and two public high school operated by the Ishikawa Prefectural Board of Education. There is also one private high school.
Transportation
Noto Airport
, marketed as and also unofficially known as is a domestic airport located south southeast of the city of Wajima on the Noto Peninsula of Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an isla ...
is located here.
The city does not have any passenger railway service.
Highway goes through this city.
Local attractions
Wajima Lacquerware
The town is known in Japan for its
lacquer
Lacquer is a type of hard and usually shiny coating or finish applied to materials such as wood or metal. It is most often made from resin extracted from trees and waxes and has been in use since antiquity.
Asian lacquerware, which may be ca ...
ware, called ''
Wajima-nuri
''Wajima-nuri'' (輪島塗) is a type of Japanese lacquerware from Wajima, Ishikawa. Wajima-nuri represents a form and style of lacquerware which is distinct from other Japanese lacquerware. The main distinguishing feature of Wajima-nuri is the du ...
'' ( ja, 輪島塗). There are artifacts showing lacquer was used to decorate and strengthen a shrine door from the 14th century. ''Wajima-nuri'' uses a technique that is unique to the area, mixing a finely powdered mineral, , with the lacquer in the early stages of production for extra durability. The rougher, earlier layers are then coated with more layers of finer lacquer, which is polished to a lustrous shine and often decorated with designs made of gold and other precious materials. The lacquer tree was once abundant in the area but is now scarce and most of the lacquer used is imported from China.
Wajima Morning Market
![Wajima](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/da/Wajima.jpg)
The Wajima Morning Market ( ja, 輪島朝市) is open every day except the 2nd Wednesday and 4th Wednesday of each month (and January 1–3 every year). Operating hours are from 8:00 AM to noon. Visitors can stroll through the many stalls of fresh seafood, lacquerware, and other handicrafts.
1000 Rice Fields
"1000 Rice Fields" ( ja, 千枚田, Senmaida)) is one of the most scenic places in Ishikawa. There are actually 1004 fields which are either owned and tended by families, or rented out and looked after by the locals. Each year during the last week of September, the names of two couples are drawn as part of a nationwide lottery to have their wedding ceremony at Senmaida. The event is open to the public.
As a memorial to the
Noto earthquake, a tradition of lighting the fields began. Initially this was done with millions of candles placed around each field following the harvest. Due to the popularity of the spectacle, solar LED lanterns are now used allowing the fields to be lit nightly. The lanterns are installed at the end of September and are left up through March when work on the fields begins again. The fields remain lit for about four hours after sunset.
Kiriko Museum
Wajima's museum of ( ja, キリコ) lanterns is open every day of the year from 8:00am to 5:00pm (8:30am to 4:00pm from December to February). are large paper lanterns traditional to the area.
Wajima Taisai
Every year from August 22 to 25, Wajima comes alive with a four-day festival known as ( ja, 輪島大祭). Visitors can watch huge ( tall) lanterns and smaller paper lanterns being carried through the streets along with portable shrines called . Visitors can eat festival foods, listen to
taiko drum
are a broad range of Japanese percussion instruments. In Japanese, the term refers to any kind of drum, but outside Japan, it is used specifically to refer to any of the various Japanese drums called and to the form of ensemble drumming m ...
s being played, and watch the main event. At the festival climax, seaside stacks of bamboo poles are torched as bonfires, some four or five stories high. (decorative strips of white paper used in Shinto rituals) is tied to the bamboo. As the fire consumes the poles, competing groups of men struggle to pull down the blazing piles, claiming as their prize pieces of burnt bamboo along with the attached as symbols of good fortune. Victors then climb to the top of their respective to hang their prize, purportedly to add to the good fortune of their village in the coming year.
The giant lanterns are indispensable to festivals celebrated in Noto. Wajima's festival are especially distinctive because of their Wajima lacquer coatings. The lanterns bear the inscription of a three-character ''kanji'' poem and, on the reverse side, the crest of the village where the originate.
The Story of the Taisai (Great Festival) depicts the love story between two (gods): the of the forest (a half blind male deity) and the of the seven islands (the female deity) that are just off the coast of Wajima. Once a year the people of Noto guide the male from his forest home through the city, while stopping at every business, home, and shrine to give blessings to the people of Wajima, and eventually to meet his wife at the sea. To guide him they carry bright lights (the ) and beat (drums) that are in the . The of Noto are generally played by two or more people, with the bass beat played by the and the main rhythm played by the on a shared . and accompany.
The main event takes place on the third night of the festival at midnight at Wajima Marine Park.
Gojinjo-daiko
is a Japanese drumming style, which is elected as a Wajima City's
cultural heritage
Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soci ...
(appointed in 1961) and an Ishikawa Prefecture's
intangible cultural heritage
An intangible cultural heritage (ICH) is a practice, representation, expression, knowledge, or skill considered by UNESCO to be part of a place's cultural heritage. Buildings, historic places, monuments, and artifacts are cultural property. Int ...
(appointed in 1963), consisting a part of
Noto, Ishikawa
is a town located in Hōsu District (formerly Fugeshi District), Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had an estimated population of 17,840 in 7,689 households, and a population density of 65 persons per km2. The total area of the town was ...
’s GIAHS (
Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) leads the programme Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS), which helps identify ways to mitigate threats faced by these systems and their people and enhance the ...
), which was appointed in 2011 as the first area in Japan by
Food and Agriculture Organization
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...
.
Playing ''gojinjo-daiko'' is strictly restricted to residents in Nafune, a small village within Wajima, where only 250 people live. It is very rare to see a live drum performance.
The origin of the ''gojinjo-daiko'' dates back to 1577 when the famous general,
Uesugi Kenshin
, later known as was a Japanese ''daimyō''. He was born in Nagao clan, and after adoption into the Uesugi clan, ruled Echigo Province in the Sengoku period of Japan. He was one of the most powerful ''daimyō'' of the Sengoku period. Known a ...
invaded Noto. Because local people had no weapons, they resisted by beating war drums and wore ferocious looking devil masks with seaweed on their heads to scare off their enemies. The low sound of drums sound associated with the rumbling of the earth frightened off the invaders.
Wajima Crab Festival
The Wajima Crab Festival ( ja, 輪島かに祭り) takes place each year in mid-November. Visitors can purchase fresh seafood and sit at one of many large, long tables and barbecue their own meal.
Kamakura Light Festival
Kamakura is in the northern part of the
Noto Peninsula
The Noto Peninsula (能登半島, ''Noto-hantō'') is a peninsula that projects north into the Sea of Japan from the coast of Ishikawa Prefecture in central Honshū, the main island of Japan. The main industries of the peninsula are agricultur ...
. It is a small, peaceful village with ancient temples and rice terraces. It celebrates an annual light festival () in which the residents place one candle in each of 20,000 glass ''
sake
Sake, also spelled saké ( ; also referred to as Japanese rice wine), is an alcoholic beverage of Japanese origin made by fermenting rice that has been polished to remove the bran. Despite the name ''Japanese rice wine'', sake, and indee ...
'' cups and arrange them in geometric configurations after dark while listening to traditional Japanese music. The event is held on August 16.
Nihon-Kankou
/ref>
References
Further reading
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External links
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{{Authority control
Cities in Ishikawa Prefecture
Populated coastal places in Japan