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By 8:00 a.m., street vendors selling fresh seafood, dried fish, vegetables, folk crafts, and more line both sides of the Morning Market Street, packing the area to capacity. With about 200 stalls, this morning market offers a glimpse into the simple, warm-hearted spirit of Oku-Noto.
A morning market where both the sellers and buyers are women. The town’s day begins with the cries of “Please buy from me!” at the morning market. The locations of the market stalls have been passed down from parent to child, and from child to grandchild, for generations. Vegetables and other produce are sold by women from nearby farms, while fresh fish, shellfish, and seaweed are brought to market by the women of the fishing village. The women of Wajima are hard workers and take pride in the saying, “A woman who can’t support one or two husbands is good-for-nothing.”
Items sold at the morning market rarely have “price tags.” The price depends on negotiation, and both buyers and sellers enjoy this process. A housewife from the city visiting Wajima says, “How much fun it would be to buy something at the morning market and cook it,” and adds, “I envy Wajima’s morning market more than anything—with its fresh fish, glossy vegetables, and the casual, relaxed atmosphere where you can shop so easily.”
The morning market is closed on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month, as well as during the first three days of the New Year (in H23, it was open on August 10, August 24, and November 23).
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