Toyama Prefecture offers tourist attractions such as Kurobe Dam, Unazuki Onsen, and Omaki Onsen, tourist events such as Owara Kaze no Bon Festival, Ebisu Festival, and Oiwa Fudo Myoo Grand Festival, and local delicacies such as buri daikon, kaisendon, and tororo konbu onigiri rice balls.
Toyama Prefecture is in the Hokuriku region and was ruled by the Maeda family as the Kaga domain before the abolition of the domain. Facing the Sea of Japan to the north, Toyama Prefecture is famous for its abundant marine products and for its famous water, with four locations in the prefecture selected as one of the 100 best waters and one of the 100 best waters of the Heisei Era.
Toyama is famous for its sightseeing spots, such as Kurobe Gorge, famous for its trolley cars, and Unazuki Onsen, the clearest hot spring in Japan.
The Tateyama Mountain Range in the northern part of the Hida Mountains can be seen from the Toyama Plain, and tours such as the Daikanbou Sunrise Bus Tour are available. Toyama Prefecture is blessed with a wealth of natural sightseeing spots in the mountains and the sea.
The Etchu Gokayama Ainokura Village, where gassho-zukuri houses still exist, is registered as a World Heritage site in Toyama Prefecture. The landscape of 32 houses with steeply sloping gabled roofs and thatched roofs standing side by side on a gently sloping plateau is like a picture of nature and houses in harmony, and is well worth a visit along with the natural beauty of the four seasons.
Food is also a fun part of sightseeing in Toyama. Ayu no narezushi, which is a mixture of naturally defrosted ayu with rice malt, salt, and salt; kabusu soup, in which wagashi and fish are simmered in miso; and akamama, which is made by adding beans to glutinous rice and turning the rice red, is eaten during celebratory occasions. The list is endless. Toyama Prefecture has a wide variety of local cuisine.
Toyama Prefecture is also blessed with good water and rice, and there are many sake breweries in the prefecture, and events are often held to compare new brews.
Before the abolition of the domain, Toyama Prefecture was a part of the Kaga domain ruled by the Maeda family. Various dyeing techniques were used as Kaga's national dyeing method, and it is said that there were as many as 200 navy blue houses in the prefecture when it was prosperous. The dyeing technique was established as Kaga yuzen in the Genroku period (1688-1704) and has continued to the present day.
In Toyama Prefecture, there are galleries and other facilities related to Kaga yuzen, such as furisode (long-sleeved kimono) and festive curtains, and some of them allow visitors to observe the coloring process, making it a valuable sightseeing experience.
At 186 meters high and 492 meters long, the Kurobe Dam is Japan's largest arched dome overflow dam and one of the tallest in the world. The sightseeing water discharge, which sprays out more than 10 tons of water per second, is very powerful, and is held from late June to mid-October. Construction began in 1956 and took seven years to complete, overcoming numerous difficulties in the face of Mot...»
Tateyama Murodo-hira, at an elevation of 2,450 meters, is one of the world's heaviest snowfall areas, with an average snow depth of about 7 meters. In particular, "Yuki-no-Otani" (Snow Valley), a 5-minute walk from Murodou Station, has a heavy snowfall due to a blowdown, and its depth exceeds 20 meters at the most. Snow plowing along the road creates a 500-meter wall of snow, and when the Alpine...»
This is a gravel beach where jade stones, a rarity in the world, are washed up on the shore.It stretches 100 m wide and 4 km east to west, facing the Sea of Japan. Jade has been prized as a type of jewel since ancient times.It is called "Jade Beach" because the rough stones are washed up on the beach. This area was a production site for jade beads from the Jomon to Kofun periods. People are con...»
The Kurobe Gorge Railway's trolley train runs through the deepest V-shaped gorge in Japan.The red bridge "Shin Yamabiko Bridge" is crossed immediately after the train departs from Unazuki Station. It is named after the sound of the train, which echoes through the hot spring resort as Yamahiko.The view is familiar from sightseeing posters. The old road, which was discontinued due to a route change,...»
This 5-km-long gorge stretches in the middle reaches of the Konashi River, a tributary of the Oyabe River. The area is designated as "Inabayama-Miyajima Gorge Prefectural Park" and is a beautiful scenic spot, with multiple waterfalls and oddly shaped rocks forming a distinctive landscape. At Miyajima Gorge, visitors can see terraced, stair-step waterfalls. The first waterfall is also called "Litt...»
This museum is themed around the natural beauty of the Kurobe Gorge. Original music is played in the museum to provide the perfect setting for art appreciation. The museum creates and exhibits works by seven leading contemporary Japanese painters, Ikuo Hirayama, Hideo Shioide, Souto Fukui, Toshio Tabuchi, Koichi Takeuchi, Yuji Tezuka, and Masaaki Miyamari, all of whom focus on the harsh yet beaut...»
Located at the entrance to the beautiful Kurobe Gorge in the Northern Alps, Unazuki Onsen is the largest hot spring resort in Toyama Prefecture. The hot spring resort has a long history, having opened in 1923 against the backdrop of power development along the Kurobe River. Many inns and recreation facilities line the Kurobe River valley, and it is also the base for trolley sightseeing along the ...»
The Toyama City Museum of Glass Art is a public art museum that exhibits contemporary glass art works by glass artists from Japan and abroad, as well as historical glass artifacts, with a focus on Toyama glass. The Toyama City Museum of Glass Art is located on the 2nd to 6th floors of the Toyama Kirari complex, which consists of a gallery, library, bank, and other facilities. On the sixth floor ...»
The Kaiwomaru Park is a marine park featuring the sailing ship Kaiwomaru, which was built as a training ship for the merchant marine school, and has various facilities. The park is registered as a Minato Oasis as "Minato Oasis Kaiwomaru Park. In the 59 years since its launch, the beautiful sailing ship Kaiwomaru has sailed some 1,060,000 nautical miles (about 50 circumnavigations of the globe) an...»
This ancient temple is located at the foot of Mt. The spacious temple grounds are lined with prestigious halls and towers, and are decorated with numerous carvings as the birthplace of Iba sculpture. The temple is said to have been founded in 1390 by Jodo Shinshu priest, the fifth generation of Honganji (Jogan-ji), and is also known as the place where Emperor Komatsu received an imperial commandm...»
Mirage Land in Mira Park Uozu General Park is the only amusement park in Toyama Prefecture and a popular spot for families and children. In particular, the six-seater Giant Ferris Wheel, which rises in the center of the park, is the symbol of Mirage Land and offers a beautiful view of Toyama Bay and the Tateyama Mountain Range. The Giant Ferris Wheel also has a "Miracle Gondola" that looks great...»
Mikurigaike Pond is a pond of the Tateyama Volcano located at an elevation of 2405 meters above sea level on the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. This pond is located about a 10-minute walk along a well-maintained walking trail from the Murodo Terminal, and is the largest and deepest pond representing Murodo. Mikuriga-ike is a volcanic lake formed about 10,000 years ago. The pond has a circumference...»
This natural hot spring is located at 2,410 meters above sea level, the highest point in Japan, with a spectacular view of Tateyama. It is located in the center of the Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Tateyama's Jigokudani (Hell Valley) has long been considered one of the three most sacred places in Japan, where people of the Tateyama faith worshipped the hydrogen sulfide fumaroles. Mikurigaike Ons...»
This is the only museum in the world that focuses on the ecology and natural environment of the mysterious "firefly squid" of Toyama Bay. The museum introduces the ecology of firefly squid through exhibits and videos. The building is a two-story reinforced concrete structure with a motif of a squid's body. The exterior of the building is made of wood that changes color when wetted by water, and t...»
A very unique ramen with a jet-black soup made with simmered koikuchi shoyu called "Toyama Black Ramen" is known to be created by a ramen shop in Toyama City "Taiki" in 1947. The soup was made quite salty to serve as a "side dish" for workers who brought rice to the ramen shop. The pungent flavor of soup became popular and there has been an increasing number of ramen shops which serve "Black Ramen...»
This is a kind of oshizushi made with masu. It is made with sliced masu which is salted and seasoned, then packed and pressed into a round container lined with bamboo leaves. It is said masu zushi was invented in 1717 with good-quality rice and ayu from Jinzu river. It was sent to Yoshimune, the eighth shogun of Tokugawa by then lord of Kaga, and Yoshimune known as a gourmet was so impressed with ...»
A traditional local dish of daikon and buri simmered with shoyu, sugar and dashi. Buri is also called “shusse uo” (fish of success in career) in Japan since buri is called by different names as they grow larger and it implies a success in career. There is a variety of dishes of buri such as buri daikon, buri teriyaki, burino anjanamasu, born and loved in Toyama Prefecture as there has been a large...»
Kaburazushi is a kind of pickled sushi made by putting fresh buri or saba between delicate and crunchy turnips made in Toyama Prefecture and pickling it in kouji. This is an indispensable local traditional food for autumn and winter. Since Echutoyamahan was separated from Kagakanazawahan, both areas have many cultural similarities, and Kaburazushi is one of the common local cuisines. Kaburazushi i...»
"Shiroebi" is a rare species which inhabits in the depth of 300 to 600m, and can be caught only in Toyama Bay in Japan. Toyama Bay is the only place in the world that can catch plenty of Shiroebi to make enough profits, so Shiroebi is a very valuable foodstaff worldwide. Shiroebi is about 6cm in body length, and it is also known as "a jewel of Toyama Bay" due to the transparent color of light pink...»
Toyama, Tsuruga in Fukuoka Prefecture, and Sakai in Osaka Prefecture are known as the areas where people eat plenty of tororokombu which is thinly shredded kobu. According to the Family Income and Expenditure Servey by Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2006, Toyama City has been the biggest consumer of kobu in Japan since 1960. "Kurotororo" is one of the tororokombu which is made by shredd...»
A nationally well-known brand of fish called "Himi no Kamburi" can be enjoyed in various flavors and tastes depending on how it is cooked. The best way of eating it is, of course, "sashimi." Very fresh sashimi has a chewy and sort of crunchy texture and its rich flavor spreads in the mouth. "Buridaikon" is also a delicious dish of buri and daikon which soaks the rich flavor of buri, and this is a ...»
Dried amaebi caught in Toyama Bay. Its bright red color without using food coloring shows that these Hoshi Amaebi were dried very fresh. Since Toyama Prefecture is known for its large production of seafood, people usually seek for "fresh" seafood, however, Hoshi Amaebi is what has been invented as a specialty made of freshness. Hoshi Amaebi is a delicacy that has richer flavor and more sweetness t...»
Dried amaebi caught in Toyama Bay. Its bright red color without using food coloring shows that these Hoshi Amaebi were dried very fresh. Since Toyama Prefecture is known for its large production of seafood, people usually seek for "fresh" seafood, however, Hoshi Amaebi is what has been invented as a specialty made of freshness. Hoshi Amaebi is a delicacy that has richer flavor and more sweetness t...»
It is a community spot equipped with many convenient facilities. It is equipped with an imizu products center, restaurants, a take-out corner, a traffic, weather, and local sightseeing information room, a parking lot, restrooms, and a rest area, allowing visitors to enjoy themselves with peace of mind. At the Imizu Products Hall, visitors can find processed fish products, salted and dried fish, a...»