Vol. 47: FROM THE EDITOR

One year and four months have passed since the Noto earthquake struck on New Year’s Day, 2024. About 230 people were killed or remain missing, while another 321 died due to indirect causes. Furthermore, 6,483 houses were completely destroyed and more than 160,000 were damaged, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said on March 11.

The damage was concentrated on Ishikawa Prefecture’s Noto Peninsula, and for several reasons reconstruction is proving challenging. One is that the area is hard to access, mountainous and surrounded on three sides by the sea. That problem is exacerbated by the damage to important infrastructure like roads and ports. Thirdly, there are social factors: The area’s population was already declining and aging faster than the national average.

And yet in many ways, the Noto Peninsula is a region where Japan’s charms are concentrated, with an abundance of unique foods based on nature’s bounty and traditional crafts like Wajima lacquerware. For this month’s feature, we visited Noto to get a sense of how reconstruction is taking place — and to hear directly from the people who are working hard to rebuild the affected areas.