Wakura Onsen
和倉温泉37°05′ N 136°55′ EOnsen townHokuriku and Noto
Wakura Onsen is the hot-spring town on Nanao Bay where 11 inns take tourists again after the January 2024 earthquake, and it makes the gentlest base on the Noto Peninsula. Some of those inns run from temporary rooms during rebuilding, so read each inn's notice before you book.
Road closure
Roads on the Noto peninsula still carry closures and detours after the 2024 earthquake
Ishikawa Prefecture's live road map on 11 October 2026 showed 150 restrictions in the Noto towns, 35 of them full closures and about 100 one-lane sections. Route 249 has been closed in Suzu between Utsuyama and Umagase since January 2024, the Noto Satoyama Kaido runs one lane between Nanao and Nakajima until 25 December 2026, and the Hakui to Ganmon cycle path is closed at Shika. Check the prefecture's map before you plan a ride, and travel with care for towns that are still rebuilding.
Checked 2026-10-11 · douro.pref.ishikawa.lg.jp
Photo Totti · Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0
Who should base here
Stay here for a bay-front ryokan, the reopened public bath and an easy rail link to Kanazawa.
The name
Wakura
和倉The association says the place was first written 涌浦, the bay where hot water wells up.
japanese
The association tells the heron story as a legend. Its account says the Kaga domain changed the characters to 和倉 in 1674 because 涌浦 was easy to miswrite.
The Wakura Onsen tourism association and inn cooperative list 11 reopened inns open to tourists: Hanagoyomi, Hosenkaku, Yunohana, Notoraku, TAOYA Wakura, Hamazuru, Noshu Iroha, Biwanso, Hotel Kaibo, Okudaya and Shirasagi no Yu Noto Kaishu. Okudaya came back on 9 July 2026 and Noto Kaishu on 16 July 2026. The association says some inns reopened in temporary quarters with no lobby or front desk, and that seawall work along the shore blocks the sea view from inside. It asks guests who understand this to come and stay in support of the town.
The association tells the town's founding story itself. Hot water rose on the hillside around 806 to 810, and after the ground shifted in the 1040s the spring welled up in the sea. A fishing couple found it when they saw a wounded white heron bathing in bubbling water off the shore. Today the inns draw a salty, weakly alkaline spring at about 80°C, and the public bath Soyu is open again.
Nanao's free Wakura Pokemon foot bath opened on 12 May 2026 in Yuttari Park by the bay. It runs from 7:00 to 19:00 and closes for the whole day when the Japan Meteorological Agency issues a weather warning for Nanao.
Worth knowing
- Both 2026 fireworks shows at Wakura are cancelled, so plan a summer visit around the inns and the bath.
- Bring a towel for the foot bath, and dry your feet before you walk off, as the city asks.
Quick answers about Wakura Onsenよくある質問
What does the name Wakura Onsen mean?
Wakura Onsen comes from the local name Wakura, meaning the association says the place was first written 涌浦, the bay where hot water wells up. The association tells the heron story as a legend. Its account says the Kaga domain changed the characters to 和倉 in 1674 because 涌浦 was easy to miswrite.
Is Wakura Onsen a good place to stay?
Stay here for a bay-front ryokan, the reopened public bath and an easy rail link to Kanazawa.
Within 12 km
Places to stay nearby宿
Within 12 km