The Port of Nanao lies on the southern shores of the Nano Bay on the Noto Peninsula in the Ishikawa Prefecture of Japan. About 287 kilometers northwest of Tokyo, the Port of Nanao was the capital of the historic Noto Province. The Port of Nanao is home to several popular hot springs (called onsen) considered one of the highest-grade onsens in the country. The city’s most important industries today are cement manufacturing and processing of lumber. In 2005, almost 62 thousand people lived in the Port of Nanao.

In the Tokugawa Era from the early 17th to middle 19th Centuries, the Port of Nanao was a castle town and a naval base for the Maeda family. The family owned several European ships and conducted trade while most of the rest of Japan was isolated from the world.

When a railway arrived in the Port of Nanao in 1899, the port was opened to trade with China, Russia, and Korea. During its heyday, the port received about seven thousand ships a year. However, with the coming of modern land transportation, the Port of Nanao has declined in importance. Today, it imports small volumes of manganese ore and wood from Russia.

The modern Port of Nanao was founded in 1939, and it was recognized as a city in 2004 when with the merger of the old Nanao-shi, Nakajima, Tatsuruhama, and Notojima.

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