Owara Kaze no Bon in Etchu Yatsuo From the first to the third of September each year, the sound of kokyu and shamisen moves through the hill town of Yatsuo in Toyama City. Owara Kaze no Bon is a three-night festival that runs deep into the dark. Paper lanterns line the slope while the crowd waits Three centuries The festival is traced to 1702, when the town recovered a document it needed to govern itself and celebrated by dancing through the streets for three days and nights.

Inami, Nanto City: woodcarving and a temple road Walk the stone-paved street in Inami and you hear chisels working behind the lattice fronts. Around two hundred carvers live in this small town in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture, and most of them are still at the bench. Yokamachi Street, running from the town toward Zuisenji temple A temple that taught the craft Inami exists as it does because of Zuisenji, the temple founded here in 1390. It burned repeatedly, and each time local tem

Half a day at Nousaku, Takaoka Takaoka, in Toyama Prefecture, has been casting metal for four hundred years. Nousaku, founded here in 1916, is one of the few foundries anywhere that opens its factory floor, its workshop and its kitchen to visitors on the same afternoon. A wall of pieces the foundry has produced over the decades Four centuries of casting Metal casting came to Takaoka in 1609, when Maeda Toshinaga, the second lord of the Kaga domain, invited foundry masters to

Experience Authentic Japanese Culture Through Rural Tourism Japan Discover Living Traditional Culture in Japan’s Premier Lion Dance Prefecture When you visit Toyama Prefecture, you’ll witness an extraordinary sight: massive lion figures adorned with vibrant body curtains, dancing with powerful, dynamic movements. Toyama Prefecture preserves approximately 850 active lion dance traditions, with over 1,100 in total—the highest number in all of Japan. For travelers seeking japan

From snow-capped alpine peaks to timeless artisan traditions, this one-minute journey captures the soul of Toyama Prefecture—where...

actual screen of the chatbot ToYAMA is committed to preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of Toyama Prefecture. As part of...

Toyama Glass Art Museum In a recent feature, The New York Times included Toyama City in its prestigious list of "52 Places to Go in...

Nestled in the heart of Japan, Toyama Prefecture boasts a deep and vibrant history of traditional crafts that have been cultivated over...