【Nanao Station / Day Walk】(Nanao, Ishikawa) A Town Still Recovering from the Noto Earthquake

July 5th, 2026

Ishikawa Prefecture Nanao City Nanao Station Stations and surroundings

Nanao Station's covered entrance, a wide passage under the roof with a tourist information sign visible

Visited: April 26, 2024 (Friday)

This stop came while filming my way from the Kansai region up into Hokuriku, moving from Himi in Toyama Prefecture into Nanao, Ishikawa. About four months had passed since the Noto Peninsula earthquake struck in January 2024, and I wanted to record what the area around Nanao Station looked like at that point.

Roadside Station Noto Shokusai Ichiba, a local market just under a kilometer on foot from the station, was apparently reopening in time for Golden Week. On this particular day, though, it was closed for preparations.

Around the Station

Nanao Station plaza, with a Don Quijote sign on the "Nanao Nigiwai-kan" building and cracks and subsidence from the earthquake visible in the paving stones

Stepping outside the station, the paving stones of the plaza were cracked, with sections sunken in. Aside from the occasional passerby, there were almost no people around — let alone tourists.

Near a bridge with red railings, a corner where the building on the left has been damaged and a Shimohara sign remains standing; soil and traffic cones sit on the road

Collapsed buildings turn up here and there throughout the area. I've walked through a number of towns hit by earthquakes before, and even here in Noto, it was the tile-roofed buildings that seemed to have collapsed most often.

Newly paved sidewalk on the right, with a building patched over in plywood on the left; the foundation is cracked, and a blue-tarp-covered building is visible further down

Around Nanao Station, the roads no longer seem to be blocked by rubble. A leaning utility pole nearby was a reminder of just how strong the shaking had been in this part of town.

A building completely collapsed at a street corner, its mud wall crumbled away and roof tiles scattered across the road, with traffic cones set up around it

A building had collapsed entirely. Seeing the mud wall stripped bare like that, I couldn't help wondering whether everyone inside had made it out safely.

Ippongi Street. On the left, a Western-style building with an OPEN sign, a flower bed, and blue tarp on its outer wall; on the right, a traditional townhouse also wrapped in blue tarp, with traffic cones further down the street

This is the Uchiura Kaido, a road that developed from the Edo period onward as a key route connecting Kanazawa with Oku-Noto. Handsome old buildings line the street, but the earthquake damage here is hard to miss.

A stretch of Ippongi Street. On the left, a building with its wall stripped away, exposing the interior; on the right, scaffolding and blue tarps, with a truck marked "High-Pressure Gas" parked nearby

One house had lost its outer wall entirely, leaving the interior exposed to the street. Scaffolding had gone up around it, and repair work was underway.

A corner beauty salon called "Cut Perm" at an intersection, with patched-up road surface and a traffic cone; buildings on the right side of the street are wrapped in blue tarps

The road surface here had cracks and a slight unevenness to it.

An archway reading "Ribbon Street" marking the entrance to a shopping street, with the "Owaka Honsha" building and a shuttered storefront on the left, and a green bus visible further down

Ribbon Street runs beneath an arch bearing its name. A few shops had reopened, but far more stood shuttered.

A narrow alley behind the shopping street, lined with restaurant signs and awnings; almost no one is out even in the middle of the day

Behind the shopping street is a narrow alley lined with tempura and soba restaurants and other small eateries clustered together.

Back at the Nanao Station plaza. On the left, a white Western-style building with a sign reading "Lunch House Rare"; the plaza's roof is visible further back, and someone rides past on a bicycle

I made my way back to the station plaza. The mood suggested that recovery here still had a long way to go — starting with the removal of collapsed buildings, much of which appeared untouched, whether from a shortage of contractors or of labor.

Some restaurants were open, though, and the town as a whole seemed to be slowly welcoming visitors back. I'd like to keep returning to Nanao and keep documenting how it changes over time.