VOL.209 NOVEMBER 2025
ENJOYING JAPAN’S MARKETS
Wajima Morning Market: A Hub of Revival
The Wajima Asaichi Caravan
Photo: ISHIZAWA Yoji
Wajima City in Ishikawa Prefecture is home to the historic and traditional Wajima Morning Market. The market suffered extensive damage in the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, but efforts are now underway to restore it. We spoke with an auditor of the Wajima Morning Market Association about the current situation and what makes the market so special.
Photo: Wajima Asaichi Caravan
Wajima City in Ishikawa Prefecture is a port town on the northern tip of the Noto Peninsula, jutting into the Sea of Japan, with a long history of thriving fishing and agriculture. The Wajima Morning Market, centered along the city’s main thoroughfare known as Asaichi (“Morning Market”) Street, traces its origins to barter held on shrine grounds during festival days around the 11th century, giving it a history of over a thousand years. Every morning, more than 200 stalls stretch along approximately 360 meters of street, selling seafood, vegetables, crafts, and other goods, making it a popular destination for both locals and tourists. However, the Noto Peninsula earthquake on January 1, 2024, followed by subsequent fires, caused extensive damage, destroying or severely damaging around 300 buildings along Asaichi Street.
“Driven by a strong desire to reopen, just three months after the earthquake, 35 members of the Wajima Morning Market Association set up the Wajima Asaichi Caravan in the Kanaiwa district of Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture. This event became the catalyst for the market’s revival. Although holding the market in the disaster-stricken area was difficult, we were determined not to let the thousand-year-old Wajima Morning Market disappear on their watch and wanted people to remember it, which led to the launch of the caravan,” says HASHIMOTO Minako, auditor of the Wajima Morning Market Association and secretary-general of the Wajima Asaichi Caravan.
Photo: ISHIZAWA Yoji
Photo: ISHIZAWA Yoji
“To date, it has been held more than 250 times across Japan. In addition, a permanent stall inside a supermarket is now operated in Wajima City.”
At the permanent market inside the supermarket, fresh seafood is not available due to the lack of refrigeration facilities. However, using a refrigerated and frozen display case, they sell overnight-dried fish and packaged prepared foods. The market also offers dried goods such as seaweed and delicacies, as well as bread, sweets, and sake. Local specialty products, including Wajima lacquerware (Wajima Nuri),1 Suzu Pottery,2 and everyday items such as hats and bags, are also on display.
Photo: Wajima Asaichi Caravan
“Currently, the area where the Wajima Morning Market once stood remains an empty lot, and plans for its reconstruction are underway. Rather than returning to the previous street stalls, there are hopes to hold the market in a covered plaza of about 2,500 square meters. The market has long faced challenges such as an aging population of vendors and a shortage of successors. Plans under consideration include adding a stage for events and introducing food trucks, as well as attracting new vendors, with the aim of revitalizing the market as a tourism hub. In the wake of the earthquake, we are viewing the situation as an opportunity to transform the market into a new form,” says HASHIMOTO, describing the current state of the Wajima Morning Market. However, she notes that it is expected to be at least three years before tourists can visit the new market site.
“Before the earthquake, many of our overseas visitors were from Europe, often coming for the Tour de Noto 4003 cycling event or to visit the Wajima Museum of Urushi Art,4” says HASHIMOTO. “At the new site, we hope to offer opportunities to enjoy local foods while strolling around and to introduce seafood barbecues—activities that were not available before. We believe this will encourage more people to visit the Wajima Morning Market. We hope visitors from both Japan and abroad will come and enjoy the experience.”
She also says she hopes visitors will take the time to enjoy conversations with the shop owners at the market. “Nowadays, with translation functions available on smartphones and other devices, vendors are able to communicate smoothly with visitors from overseas. I hope people will enjoy shopping while chatting face-to-face with them, learning, for example, how to best prepare and enjoy the ingredients they buy.”
HASHIMOTO and the market’s vendors are looking ahead and moving forward toward creating a new home for the Wajima Morning Market. The revitalized market is expected to become a place where people from Japan and around the world can connect and experience the unique appeal of the region.
- 1. Wajima Nuri is lacquerware produced in Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture. It is known for its strength, achieved by using high-quality clay found only locally as a base. (See “A Life Captivated by Wajima Nuri, Japan’s Traditional Lacquerware,” HIGHLIGHTING Japan March 2025 issue)
- 2. Pottery produced in Suzu City, Ishikawa Prefecture, characterized by its rustic, unglazed black finish. It is popular with overseas visitors.
- 3. An annual three-day cycling event in September that circles the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, covering more than 400 km.
- 4. A museum specializing in lacquer art, opened in 1991 as a hub for promoting Japan’s lacquer culture.
By TANAKA Nozomi
Photo: ISHIZAWA Yoji; Wajima Asaichi Caravan