Wajima is well-known for its Morning Market, which is considered among the top three morning markets in entire Japan. Starting off since a thousand years ago, the market consists of 200 booths selling variety of seafood, vegetables and handicrafts including the renowned lacquerware that is also a signature item in Wajima. Wajima is a town that is placed under the Ishikawa Prefecture, with a total population of 27,698 people living over an area of 426.32 square kilometers. Founded in 1889 as a result of the Meiji restoration, Wajima flourished and was later awarded its city status in 1954. Its economy is mainly driven by commercial fishing, tourism, agriculture and lacquerware production, which is considered as among the best to be found in the country.

Airports in Wajima

Noto Airport

Noto Airport or unofficially known as Wajima Airport is the main airport in Japan which is mostly serving the city of Wajima and areas nearby within Ishikawa. Located about 11.9 kilometers south southeast of the city center. This third class airport is operated by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, being among the newest greenfield airports in Japan. Opens since the year 2003, Noto Airport has a runway that is 2,000 meters long, which is made of asphalt concrete at an elevation of 219 meters. In addition to that, it also has a four-story terminal building with two jetways. As of 2015, the airport has handled about 156,374 passengers with seven metric tons of cargo and nearly 3,299 aircraft movements. Noto Airport typically caters to All Nippon Airways for destinations to and from Tokyo-Haneda among others. That aside, there are multiple connecting flights to Wajima from Manila with stops at Tokyo, Sapporo and Hong Kong via airlines such as Japanese Airlines, All Nippon Airways, Cathay Pacific and Philippine Airlines.

How to Get Cheap Flights to Wajima?

Traveloka is a travel search engine that makes it easy for travelers to find the cheapest flights to Wajima.All you need to do is to key in the information in the search box, and the application will recommend the best trip according to your budget. It compares flight prices across some trusted airlines to help you to get the best possible deal. Don’t hesitate to use Traveloka’s price alert feature to be notified of flights in your desired price range to get the best flight price to Wajima.

When is the Best Time to Fly to Wajima?

The off-peak season is during July which is during the peak of the summer season. Nonetheless, if you do not mind the lower crowd anyway, accommodation prices can be lower around this time, but do not expect it to go down too much. It is undoubtedly the best time to get good bargains anyway. Peak season in Wajima is during March, May and October which is during the beginning and end of spring and middle of fall when the weather is becoming more pleasant to explore the city. The best time to visit Wajima is undoubtedly around the spring and autumn seasons, which is from April to May and September to November, being the time when the temperature is more moderate and is just lovely to go out without higher crowd concentrations.

Wajima, being part of the island of Hokkaido which is among the coldest regions in Japan, is said to have a humid continental climate according to the Köppen classification which implies cold winters with intense blizzards and snowfall from December to February and warm summers from June to August. The average high is at 29.8 degree Celsius in August while the lowest recorded temperature is at −0.2 degree Celsius in February. Precipitation is about 2,100.5 mm annually with the highest precipitation occurring in November to January.

There are a lot of festivals you can look forward to enjoy in Wajima as well as nearby towns throughout the year just like the locals. Among the most prominent festival here is undoubtedly the Wajima Taisai, which is a four-day festival at the end of August in which visitors may get a chance to witness massive 10-meter kiriko lanterns as well as smaller paper lanterns carried through the streets with omikoshi shrines. During this time around, festival food is sold and taiko drum is played. In addition to that, there are other festivals such as the Wajima Crab Festival in mid-November where visitors can buy fresh seafood and enjoy it with barbecue, as well as Kamakura Light Festival in which one candle is lighted in each of 20,000 glass sake cups which is held in Kamakura.

What are the Top 3 Things to Do in Wajima?

Wajima Morning Market – It certainly feels incomplete if you come to Wajima but do not take a chance to check out the renowned morning market. You can walk around the area enjoying the view of the locals going out early in the day to buy goods or even buy some products for yourself among the 200 operating booths around the area. It usually opened from 8 am to noon daily.

1000 Rice Fields – It is not an exaggeration to say that 1000 Rice Fields is among the most scenic places in the city as well as the prefecture. The vast rice fields are arranged in the terrace and facing the sea, being one of the largest areas of its kind in the country. The place is so scenic that excellent views can be obtained in every season.

Kiriko Museum – Opens daily from 8 am to 5 pm, the museum is dedicated to the exhibits of kiriko, a type of paper lantern that is traditional to Wajima and has been used in a lot of its customs and traditions over the years.