Noto, Ishikawa

Noto 能登町
—  Town  —
Location of Noto in Ishikawa
Noto
Coordinates: 37°18′N 137°9′E / 37.3°N 137.15°E / 37.3; 137.15Coordinates: 37°18′N 137°9′E / 37.3°N 137.15°E / 37.3; 137.15
Country	Japan
Region	Chūbu
Prefecture	Ishikawa
District	Hōsu District
Area
– Total	273.45 km2 (105.6 sq mi)
Population (October 2004)
– Total	21,863
– Density	80/km2 (207.2/sq mi)
Time zone	Japan Standard Time (UTC+9)
Phone number	768-62-1000
Address	927-0492
Website	Town of Noto (Japanese)

This article is about the town in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan. For other uses, see Noto (disambiguation).

Noto (能登町, Noto-chō^?) is a town located in Hōsu District, Ishikawa, Japan.

On March 1, 2005 the town of Noto and the village of Yanagida, both formerly from Fugeshi District, merged with the town of Uchiura, formerly from Suzu District, to form the new town of Noto. Also on this date, Fugeshi District merged with Suzu District to become the newly-created Hōsu District.

According to October 2004 population statistics, the town has an estimated population of 21,863 and a density of 80 persons per km². The total area is 273.45 km².

Name

The old name (before merger) and the new name (after merger) have the same pronunciation ("No-to"), but the characters are different.

• Old: 能都 ("central Noto area")
• New: 能登 ("Noto area itself")

Roads

• Main Roads
  • Route 249
  • Suzu Road
  • Prefectural Road 6

Products

• Kanburi (adult yellowtail fish captured in winter)
• Strawberries of Akasaki
• Blueberry Jam/Vine of Yanagida

Abare Festival (あばれ祭り)

Every year in the first week of July, the town of Ushitsu comes alive with the 2-day Abare Festival, better known as the 'Fire and Violence' festival.

Visitors can watch Kiriko (キリコ) and Mikoshi (みこし) (large floats) being carried through the streets, eat delicious festival foods, hear Taiko drums and see many people dressed in their summer festival wear (ゆかた).

The Kirikos and Mikoshis are first blessed by priests and sake is poured over them and into the mouths of the men who carry them. From this point onwards, sake flows freely all night long.

At the end of the night, the main mikoshi is set alight and the 10-12 men carrying it are forced to get into the river to cool off. They then carry the mikoshi around while the flames and debris fall on them. This is a display of strength and endurance.

The festival is not recommended for children after sunset as large amounts of alcohol are consumed and the festival can become quite dangerous.

External links

Media related to Noto, Ishikawa at Wikimedia Commons

• Noto official website (Japanese)
• One person's photos of the 2009 Abare festival: [1]