KANAZAWA, Japan - The shrine still stands silent in Noto, tilted to one side by the 2024 earthquake and landslides and with no prospect of restoration. Once again, the giant lanterns of one of the beloved festivals in the Sea of Japan region will not be lofted in procession through the streets.
Across the Noto Peninsula, residents are confronting an uncomfortable truth -- centuries-old traditions could disappear along with their communities, as depopulation accelerated by the magnitude 7.6 earthquake threatens the survival of the Kiriko Festivals.
"There's no one left. We can't hold the festival anymore," an official of one of the districts organizing the events said.
But quake-prone Japan has often shown resilience, and the festivals are seen as a test of whether rural communities can endure in the face of depopulation and natural disasters.
Dating back to the Edo feudal period (1603-1868), the Kiriko Festivals in the Noto region of Ishikawa Prefecture are a series of community festivals held from summer through fall, characterized by processions of giant lanterns known as Kiriko.
The tradition encompasses a total of 232 events, with 29 major festivals and numerous smaller ones, according to the prefecture.
One such festival is the Yanagida Grand Festival, typically held in September, that features a procession with a Kiriko lantern more than 10 meters tall accompanied by Japanese flutes and drums.
However, Yanagida Shrine where the festival's religious rituals are conducted has been left leaning after the deadly New Year's Day earthquake and landslides caused by heavy rain in the fall of that year.
Combined with the district's population having fallen, with the number of households about one-third of its former size, the festival procession has been suspended.
"It'll be difficult to hold the festival at full scale until the reconstruction process settles down first," said Shigeru Horiuchi, the shrine's 61-year-old chief priest.
The situation is more or less the same for some other Kiriko festivals, with shrines not restored amid a shortage of construction workers, while others see the procession routes changed due to damaged roads.
Although the Noto region had long faced depopulation because of limited job opportunities for young people, the decline worsened after the earthquake, as many residents whose homes were destroyed left the region.
Across six cities and towns where the festivals have been held, the population fell from 119,000 in January 2024 to 103,000 as of May 2026.
To address the shortage of manpower for such festivals, the prefectural government set up a program in 2025 that dispatches registered volunteers to organizers requesting assistance.
In 2025, a total of 451 people from both within and outside the prefecture helped organize festivals, including the Kiriko ones.
A prefectural official said some festivals were "able to resume" thanks to the volunteers.
Also among the Kiriko Festivals, one was held independently of municipal assistance, thanks to a network of volunteers and supporters already involved in disaster recovery efforts.
The Sosogi Grand Festival in Wajima was held on the same scale as before the earthquake as volunteers were dispatched by relief groups such as one based in Kobe, a western Japanese city that experienced its own devastating earthquake in 1995.
"Festivals are a gateway to learning about the disaster-hit region," said Shinichi Fujimoto, the Kobe-based organization's representative. "I want them to give us inspiration on how we can support reconstruction by continuing to stay involved with Noto."
Although the region still has roughly 15,000 people living in temporary housing and business recovery is far from complete, preparations are underway for the festival season beginning in July, raising hopes of bringing life back to the area as former residents return for the events.
With many volunteers also expected to visit, an official involved in organizing the Sosogi Grand Festival expressed hope that some will eventually choose to move to the area.
Regarding the participation of people from outside the region, Shinro Tada, 72, who oversees the Horyu Tanabata Kiriko Festival in Suzu, said that with more outsiders taking part, the festival can "stay alive" while sharing the community's recovery efforts and passion with a wider audience.
"We need to rethink the role of festivals as a means for everyone to come together, share in the joy, and feel that recovery is truly underway," Tada said.
