Noto Wakura Onsen and Festival Culture Walking Tour

The hot spring is said to have been discovered around 1,000 years ago as a rare seaside onsen flowing from beneath the sea. From this area, learn how Wakura gradually developed from a natural hot spring site into one of Noto’s best-known onsen towns during the Edo period. The park also offers views of Nanao Bay, reflecting the close relationship between the sea, local communities, and life in the Noto Peninsula.

The Wakura Onsen Festival Hall introduces the vibrant festival culture of the Noto Peninsula through large festival floats, traditional decorations, music, and immersive displays. Visitors can learn about the unique characteristics of festivals held across different parts of Noto and discover how these celebrations developed through fishing communities, local beliefs, and regional trade networks. The museum also explores how festivals continue to support local identity and community connections even as rural communities face modern challenges such as depopulation and natural disasters.

Wakura Onsen Soyu is a public bathhouse used not only by visitors, but also by local residents as part of everyday life in the onsen town. In addition to its bathing facilities, the building functions as a community and tourism space where people gather and interact. Before local festivals, residents sometimes use the multipurpose rooms to practice festival music and prepare for upcoming events, showing how festival culture remains closely connected to daily life in Wakura Onsen today.