Traditional Festival Held in Noto after Skipping a Year; Tomobata Festival was Canceled in 2024 due to Earthquake

The Yomiuri Shimbun

13:46 JST, May 3, 2025

NOTO, Ishikawa — The Tomobata Festival, a traditional event to pray for a bountiful fishing catch and maritime safety, was held Friday in Noto, Ishikawa Prefecture, after being canceled last year due to the Noto Peninsula Earthquake.

The town’s Ogi Port was lively with majestic ships flying Tomobata stern flags, each about 20 meters tall, that fluttered in the wind.

The festival is said to date back to the mid-Meiji era (1868-1912), when children would imitate the practice of Kitamaebune cargo ships putting up flags that bore their names on their sterns.

On the day of the festival, residents raised the flags on two small boats tied together before fishermen and children boarded. The pairs of boats were then pulled around the harbor and nearby waters by fishing boats, accompanied by the sounds of taiko drums and flutes.

“I was so disappointed that the festival was canceled last year,” said a 90-year-old woman living nearby. “It adds so much liveliness to the port, and I’m glad to see it come back.”

The two-day festival was to continue on Saturday, when a ship carrying a portable shrine would lead the other boats in a procession around the harbor.