Noto- A Resilient Peninsula - CYCLE AROUND JAPAN

The best way to discover little known sites and make even familiar places feel brand new is to go exploring by bicycle. This time we cycle the Noto Peninsula, which lies in central Japan on the Sea of Japan. Its unique culinary culture is a product of its bountiful harvest. It's sweet, isn't it? In January 2024, Noto was rocked by a major earthquake, leading to damage and injury. It's been nearly two years. We discover how people's lives have been affected and find signs of recovery and hope. It's a 250-kilometer journey through a land where people live in harmony with nature. The Noto Peninsula. Here we come. Our journey begins in the city of Kanazawa, the entrance to the peninsula. The city still retains the feel of its samurai origins. And its market is bustling with shoppers. Among those taking in the sights and sounds is our cyclist. Local fish here. It looks really fresh. Local crab. This is Zach Reynolds from Australia. He works at a bicycle company, as well as a tour guide who has been all over Japan. He's been to Noto before, but it's his first trip here since the earthquake. I've ridden around the coast before, but the mountains look good too. I'm looking forward to enjoying the food, both from the sea and the land. I haven't been here since the earthquake two years ago, so I'm also looking forward to seeing how the recovery is going from there. OK, let's go. A four-day trip. Day one will bring Zach along the coastline to the inland countryside. On day two, he'll cross to an island, then stay at an inn serving original cuisine featuring local ingredients. On day three, he'll visit Wajima, a city hit hard by the quake. On the final day, he'll head for the tip of the peninsula. It's like a nice day today. It's a little bit warmer than I expected for November, so hopefully we'll get some good riding. The autumn colours are starting to come out. Just a little bit too early, but it's looking really nice. In November, this region is painted in beautiful reds, oranges and yellows. Zach is now 35 kilometres west of Kanazawa. Yes, here we go. I've been looking forward to this for ages. This is Chirihama Beach, a rare beach where you can ride your bicycle on the sand for an eight-kilometre stretch. It's a beautiful view today. Hardly a cloud in the sky. The sea is fairly calm, just some nice little waves coming in. Looks like there's plenty of people out here today. It's pretty solid, even with my narrow tyres here. I don't feel like I'm sinking in. The grains of sand here are both fine and uniform. The sand is compacted by the waves, making this a great beach for cycling. Leaving the coast, Zach enters the Ouchi Plain, Noto's largest rice-producing region. Well, the harvesting's finished and it's actually getting a little bit green again before the winter. Wow, Toto, check out all these swans. Sorry to disturb you. These tundra swans migrate here from Siberia each winter. They come for the fertile soil and fresh water of the area's lagoons and wetlands. Oh, let's have a look. Zach spots someone working in a field. This is Oomi Setsuko, age 84. She grows a variety of vegetables throughout the year. Oomi is known for making a certain local dish. She shows Zach how Kabura Sushi, or turnip sushi, is made. Do you make this all year round? From the end of November to the beginning of February. Only when it's cold. Does it rot when it's hot? No, it doesn't. I'll add some salt water. You don't have to measure it? No, it's fine. After pickling in salt for a week, they're ready to be turned into Kabura Sushi. I'm going to pickle them now. Can I help you? I don't want to get in the way. No, it's fine. Can you pass me a sheet of paper? Whichever you like. Mackerel, pickled in sweet vinegar, is sandwiched between the turnip slits. The turnips are then covered in fermented rice. It's fermented rice, so it's sweet. It's not spicy. Oomi! Someone's here! This is Okayama Kazumi, a neighbor. I brought some carrots. You did? Thank you! The locals here often share their freshly harvested crops. Once Okayama's veggies and yuzu are added, the whole mixture is left to rest for a week. Then, it's complete. I've never seen sushi made this way before. Really looking forward to seeing what it tastes like. Kabura Sushi, my first experience. Itadakimasu. This is delicious. It's big enough to eat. The taste of the ingredients, the sweetness, the flavor of the fish, and the saltiness. You can eat this for a week, but when I was in high school, I made a salad-like Kabura Sushi for three days. Okayama is a high school teacher. She once had Oomi visit her class to teach the students how to make Kabura Sushi. The students wanted to learn how to make Kabura Sushi from Oomi. I think it was five years ago. The students wrote up Oomi's recipe in the hopes of promoting this local dish, which is made by fewer people these days. If you can't make Kabura Sushi, it's lonely. Every year, I get the answer to make Kabura Sushi again. Local dish bringing smiles to many faces. Today, Zak first heads to Noto Island, an island located in an inlet on the east side of the peninsula. After a good start this morning, it's a beautiful, calm morning here in the bay. The island's circumference is 72 kilometers. It's surrounded by calm seas. Beautiful view across the bay here. Sun's just coming up over the clouds. There's a little fishing port down here. Looks like there's a few people on the coast over there doing some fishing. Let's go and have a look. Good morning. The weather's nice, isn't it? It's warm and dazzling. There's no wind. What do you catch here? There are many kinds of fish here, but the brown ones are sea breams, the white ones are mackerels, and the white ones are sea breams. A range of fish can be caught on Noto Island year-round, making it popular with fishers from around the region. Aori-ika, or big fin reef squid, can be caught in large numbers here thanks to the area's abundant seaweed and good tidal flow. How do you eat it? I think it's best to eat it as sashimi. It's fresh, so it's best to eat it as sashimi. Zak has booked an inn near Noto Island, where he can eat some dishes that use local squid. This looks like it. I can see a sign up here. Here it is. This looks really nice. Hi, I'm Zak. Nice to meet you. I'm Chikako, nice to meet you. Welcome to Noto. I've been looking forward to visiting. Excellent. This inn is run by Benjamin Flatt and Funashita Chikako. Ben, a chef from Australia, met Chikako in Sydney, where she was teaching Japanese. After getting married, they moved here to Noto, Chikako's hometown. Wow, this is really nice. Thank you very much. Is this persimmon? Yes, it's persimmon. It's still fresh. Yes, it's still fresh. It's still fresh. Noto has a lot of preserved food. It's cold in winter, so it lasts a long time. That's right. This inn was once run by Chikako's parents. She and Ben have renovated it for the modern age. When evening comes, Ben prepares Italian cuisine with plenty of local fermented food. It's a fermented food, but it's used in Italian cuisine. Yes. It's rare. It's quite blue. Noto's fermented food is very blue in Italian cuisine. There's a fish soy sauce called Ishiri. That's the representative one. We make it here. It's not fish. It's squid. It's squid with salt. It's the best. Please have a look. This is where you make the Ishiri. This is the Ishiri, basically filled with salt and squid guts. It smells kind of seafood-y in here. It's a sort of fermentation smell. At the bottom you get the sauce. Would you like to try? I'd love to. This is the 20-20 batch. 20-20 batch. If it pours, it might not pour out. Here it comes. I see what you mean. It's kind of strong like soy sauce, but it's a completely different flavour profile. It's got that seafood-y kind of flavour. Of course it's salty. Here in Noto Chor it's made with squid. In Wajima they make it with sardines and mackerel. So it depends on the region. It's only made in Noto. That's Aori-Ika. Aori-Ika. Ikusumi pasta. This pasta is made with fresh local Aori-Ika. The squid ink sauce has a rich umami flavour thanks to the Ishiri. Meanwhile, this sautéed Japanese sea bass, which is also seasoned with Ishiri, pairs well with nori seaweed harvested from the Noto Sea. I like how it doesn't overpower it. So you can actually enjoy the style of the Italian that you're expecting, but just get a little bit extra as well. It's perfect. Over-exploding it with the flavour of Ishiri. It's not about over-exploding it with the flavour of the squid. It's complementing and making it one dish. It's super soft. I guess, really fresh. They're all excellent. Ben learned how to cook with Ishiri from Chikako's parents. Her father, Tomohiro, had a craftsman spirit and was very specific about how to make and use it. Very, like, follow me step-by-step. The traditional way of doing it in Noto is this way. So I had to follow that step-by-step. And following it step-by-step makes it that when you do actually make it yourself, you make it perfectly. It tastes exactly and very similar to the way that it was always made and has been made forever. When I came here, I found that this culture had, like, such a deep-lying food culture that I wanted to learn so much about it anyway. And once they know that you're interested, so many people just come out of the woodwork and want to teach you something. Ben, do you know this? It's like, what's that? Oh, this is this, this, this. And you go, oh, wow, that's amazing. To be here and do traditional, like, fermentation. Today, Zak heads from the town of Noto to the opposite shore of the peninsula. Oh, it's a bit brisk in the mornings, but this is the most beautiful time to ride. It's getting a bit windy as we're coming across to the west side of the peninsula. It's beautiful riding in the mountains in autumn. After riding for two hours, he enters the city of Wajima. This was one of the areas most affected by the 2024 earthquake. Oh, look, this bridge is still closed. It's still closed, can't get through. On January 1st, 2024, the peninsula was hit by a magnitude 7.6 earthquake. Fires caused by the quake ravaged the city center. They're taking down the old buildings here. Too much damage to repair. Sad to see all these old buildings just being demolished. Oh, this is where the morning markets were. Wajima's morning markets had a history of over 1,200 years. About 100 stalls, laid out over a length of 350 meters, sold local seafood, handicrafts, and more, attracting many visitors. Zach came here himself as a cycling tour guide before the disaster. You know, from memory, this was all like a thriving town. It's just disappeared. Starting to get a bit cold here, but remember the earthquake was in New Year's Day two years ago. People trying to evacuate their houses in the freezing cold of winter. Yeah, this all used to be markets too. There's a place Zach wants to visit here in Wajima. So I've heard they have a temporary morning market over here as well. Looks like it's up here where these flags are. Looks just like the morning markets. Konnichiwa. Lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Some sake, more liquorware. This temporary morning market opened six months after the disaster. People who lost their shops now sell their goods in this area of a shopping complex. These chopsticks are lacquered, a traditional Wajima craft. I see. Do you have any plans to reopen? I've been given a new job, so I'm still working on it. Oh, I see. But I can't make a third of what I used to. I see. It's full of things I've never experienced. And it's still going on. I wonder how long it will go on. I think everyone feels the same way. It would be sad to see this art go away. I agree. I'd like to see it go away. Konnichiwa. Looks like there's a lot of good stuff. Lots of sake. Lots of sake and snacks. Looks good. Seaweed as well. This is seaweed from the nature. Abalone, red sea bream, and red sea bream are all made by me. With love. Toshima Takako was born and raised in Wajima. 38 years ago, she married into a family that ran a seafood stall at the market. Turban shells, simmered in salt and sake. They still taste fairly fresh and there's quite a light flavour. I think these would go well with like a set meal for lunch or some sake in the evening. Konnichiwa. The flowers are so pretty. It's all thanks to the seaweed. Thanks to the seaweed? I think it's because she's so young. I love working in the mountains and the sea. That's why. I'd like to express my gratitude for everyone's hard work and love for Asahichi. I think it's a great place. When I was in Asahichi, I met a lot of people and it was a great place. The community is important. I think we'll be able to have a good Asahichi again. Yes, we will. I'm looking forward to it. The market has changed locations, but the warmth of the people remains the same. On the final day, Zak will cycle the Sea of Japan coastline to the tip of the peninsula. The sea is definitely a lot rougher on this side than on the Toyama Bay side. It's a lot more exposed. The waves are bigger. It's definitely a different atmosphere when you're riding on the Sea of Japan side. Looks like the sea level has changed in this little fishing port as well. It's almost empty. Wow, look at that. That whole reinforced hill slide there just slid down and buried the road. Had to build it over the top again. Restoration work continues, but there is still a long way to go. 20 kilometers from Wajima, Zak enters the city of Suzu, near the peninsula's northern tip. Well, shio. The sign up here that just says salt. Let's go and have a look. Big pots bubbling away here. Wonder what they're doing here. This is Yamagishi Junichi. He was once a teacher, but after retiring, he followed in his father's footsteps and became a salt maker here in Suzu. He's been in the business for 30 years. Salt has been made in the Noto Peninsula for about 500 years. Its centuries-old methods are used even today. Seawater is spread across sand and dried under the sun, creating a dense concentration of salt. Salt water, extracted from the sand, is slowly boiled for about 24 hours, causing salt crystals to form. The population of Noto is aging, and that includes salt artisans. There's a danger that no one will continue the practice. But one person here has emerged to keep it going. I've been in the business for 30 years. Hello. This is Shinzakaya Atsushi from Wajima. He once worked at an eatery in Kanazawa, but became Yamagishi's apprentice in 2022, determined to keep Noto's culinary culture alive. The size and taste of the salt crystals change every day, and that's what makes it interesting. Do you have to be careful about the heat? It's hard to adjust the fire so that the salt crystals don't get too burnt. You have to be observant. Do you see the growth? I'm motivated. I'm curious. That's what I like about it. This is just the beginning. We'll see how much we can do and how much we can grow. You're looking forward to the growth. You're motivated. Yamagishi's salt works took heavy damage in the earthquake. Aside from damage to the buildings, changes to the landscape made it harder to collect seawater, and landslides caused road closures. Some salt artisans decided to move away. In this tough situation, what motivates you to keep making salt? What is it? Well... I have a few reasons. First of all, the salt you make is the best. That's why I feel like I have to do my best. It makes me happy. It makes me excited. So I decided to do my best. I can't live here anymore. I want to come back. That's why I'm making salt. I want to make it better. I want people to say that they want to come back and see this landscape. I want to be a part of that. To cap off his journey, Zak heads for the tip of the peninsula. It's a long enough distance riding around here, but those guys are walking it. I thought we had the steep pitch just before, but this looks like the steepest pitch for the end. A little bit more. Now the gears. Here we go, right at the end of the Noto Peninsula. Nothing but horizon. On this trip it was interesting to see some of the local food culture, especially the preservation and the fermentation techniques from the kabura sushi with the fish and the radish and the squid-based sauce as well. It was also nice to see people not only preserving these old techniques but introducing new ideas and new cuisines and making something new out of the old techniques to pass them on to the future. It was quite a shock to see that the morning markets had disappeared after the earthquake, but reinforcing the value of community and being able to talk to each other face to face. The resolve of the salt farmers to get back on track and continue the traditions and also to get people to come back to Noto was really heartwarming to see. I think Noto has a lot to offer that many people aren't aware of and I hope that seeing the effort that everyone is putting into the reconstruction here really encourages people to come and visit Noto if not for the first time, to come and visit again. Noto continues to rebuild following the disaster. On this trip, we met people working hard to preserve the region's traditions with the strong belief that normality will return to Noto once again.