Toyama

The province

Get to know Toyama

Toyama lies between the Northern Alps and Toyama Bay, on the Sea of Japan. Mountains around 3,000 meters high, such as those of the Tateyama massif, descend to the sea over just a few dozen kilometers, and on clear days they can be seen from the coast. The capital, Toyama, has a modern tram and a glass museum housed in a wooden building.

The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route crosses the Tateyama mountains in Toyama to Omachi in Nagano, using a funicular, buses, an electric tunnel bus and cable cars. On the Murodo plateau, at about 2,450 meters, the Yuki-no-Otani snow corridors form walls that can exceed 15 meters in spring. On the other side is the Kurobe Dam, the tallest dam in Japan. The route generally operates from mid‑April to the end of November.

To the southwest, the villages of Ainokura and Suganuma in Gokayama preserve gassho-zukuri thatched houses with steeply pitched roofs, and together with Shirakawa-go they have been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1995. In Takaoka, a large bronze Buddha and the Zen temple Zuiryu‑ji, a national treasure, recall the city’s history of bronze casting.

The Kurobe Gorge Railway runs open-sided carriages from Unazuki Onsen along a deep valley, across bridges and through tunnels. In the bay, firefly squid, which glow blue, are caught in spring, and white shrimp are served raw or fried. The mountains and the sea are less than an hour apart.