Residents Return to Island Hit by 2024 Noto Quake; Much Cleanup Work Ahead as Ferry Service Resumes

By Tsubasa Narishima / Yomiuri Shimbun Staff Writer

16:05 JST, July 31, 2025

WAJIMA, Ishikawa — About 50 people sailed to Hegurajima Island in the Sea of Japan aboard the passenger ferry Nozomi on Wednesday. The remote island had been damaged in the January 2024 Noto Peninsula Earthquake, and the boat resumed service there from Wajima Port on the day for the first time in about 19 months.

The island is about 50 kilometers north of the port. Both are part of Wajima City, Ishikawa Prefecture.

As regular transportation to the island had been cut off due to the quake, collapsed buildings and debris remain almost untouched, and residents are waiting for full-scale restoration. The about 50 people who sailed there Wednesday included evacuated residents and local government officials. After they arrived at the island, the residents began the hard work of cleaning up their homes.

After the earthquake, it had been difficult to reach the island, except by some fishing boats. Scars from the disaster were still everywhere. Fishing equipment and baskets were scattered around the port, and broken refrigerators and stoves were piled on top of each other. A house with its walls ripped off revealed only its skeleton, and a vending machine lay where it had presumably been left by the tsunami that followed the quake.

Shinobu Okado, 70, hurried to her minshuku guesthouse to clean it up after she disembarked the ship. Before the earthquake, the inn was bustling with tourists and anglers. But the overgrown weeds surrounding the inn prevented her from cleaning up. She said she had received phone calls from regular customers saying that they are looking forward to the reopening of her inn.

“Many people are waiting for us. We will do what we can to respond to their expectations,” she said.

For the time being, the Nozomi is scheduled to make a round trip once a week, and boarding will be limited to residents and construction workers.