Noto Peninsula Photography Tour

Hi. I need help to decide if i should cancel my Noto Peninsula Photography Tour. Lately i've been reading that the area is still not good. If this is the case, maybe this tour may not be worth it since the area is still recovering. Also, I do not want to be insensitive to the situation.

Can someone please give me their 2 cents worth?

Thank you

Are you referring to a locally-organized tour, or just saying you will be visiting to take photos?

Hi. This is a photography tour. So there's a photographer who will be taking photos. 🙂 I'll be taking photos as well.

Hello Francine,

Here is the official website of Ishikawa Prefectural Tourism League
https://www.ishikawatravel.jp/en/

And here is the page we are led to when we click "Please check the following for the latest information about the Noto Peninsula Earthquake"
https://www.ishikawatravel.jp/en/news/regarding-the-2024-noto-peninsul...

As you can see, the northern part of the peninsula is still affected (mainly due to lack of number of roads that lead there).

Meanwhile, tourism in Kanazawa and Kaga is appreciated and encouraged in helping the economy and excitement.

I hope it helps you plan your tour.

Thanks so much for everyone's response. I'll have a discussion with my tour operator about this.

I will he going around kanazawa, shirakawa and takayama. So it's just the noto peninsula area that I have to change.

I’d say depends on what you expect and where you’d go.

I wonder if you are referring to some tours advertised on Viator or other websites… Just as example, Wajima Market site has been demolished, but a group of sellers will begin doing an outdoor market, trying to bring back the market with a very long history.
Houses in the area - many have been destroyed and have not been properly demolished yet for reconstruction. So you will see some disaster-stricken areas/sights for sure.

But given that sightseeing has been one of the major industries for the region, they do want visitors back as well. Kanazawa wants tourists back.

So it’s up to how they arrange the tour, exactly where they’d take you, and what you expect.

Ah-ha actually yes. I have been booking through viator sites and etc :) I have pre-booked ones already. But then I saw I had Noto in it so I had to ask because it don't want to be insensitive going to a place and having photos if the area is not ready for it.

I’m looking at Noto Photography tour on Viator - I do not know if it’s exactly this one - among the itinerary, the market and the museum are closed now, as far as I can tell.
So if it is this one, you could ask the operator where they are taking you instead.

I spoke to the operator. He mentioned that there are scheduled festivals this year and the light up he's not sure but he said wait until September period.

He did mention that the area is still recovering.

Ah, now I get the picture. I was assuming that you were coming soon on a sort of a fully or half organized tour that starts from a country outside Japan. Instead, you're planning to join day trips inside Japan that are scheduled way ahead.

I suppose the organizers of day trips and events are leaving their website information as is while counting on situations to improve. And no one's getting hurt, because participants can do last-minute cancelations and still get full refunds, while deleting information for autumn would discourage tourism as a whole.

As AK suggested, it depends on what you're after, but what I would do if I were you is to book the Noto tour, but be prepared to cancel it. I wouldn't really book another tour for backup, because that would cause a lot of waste for a lot of people. Instead, I would be prepared to walk around on my own in other nearby easier destinations if Noto doesn't happen.

And if the Noto tour does happen, I would say that that means Noto is ready for it at that particular time. I remember visiting Ishinomaki on the year 3.11 happened. A taxi driver took us all around the affected areas. I think we were sincere, trying to learn, listen, offer prayers, and we did take (amateur) photos of scenery (not people) so that we don't forget. The driver gave us a good deal, and I like to believe that our attitude was fine.

It wasn't a happy tour at all, though. It was months after 3.11 and people weren't really smiling yet. As we expected, it was just a great learning experience and an opportunity to tell locals we're sorry we couldn't come sooner.

Of course, I would pay attention to reviews to make sure the tour organizer is not insensitive. Note, however, that Noto's improvement is taking an unfortunately longer time than expected. And all this is just my mere personal opinion.

Truly appreciate the responses. I now know what to do. :)

Japan is such a beautiful country I hope the noto area recover soon.