Tour Concierge Toyama

Matsukawa River Cruise

Yesterday was a pleasant day for cruising. This time I enjoyed Matsukawa river cruise. Matsukawa river flows through the center of Toyama city. The boarding point is in the north of Toyama Castle Park.

This season we can enjoy the beautiful autumn scenery of Toyama Castle Park from the river. This area is selected as one of the Top 100 cherry blossom beauty spots in Japan. There are 460 cherry trees on the riverbanks. So in spring you can enjoy passing through the tunnel of cherry blossoms in full bloom.!

There is a nice photo spot near the boarding point. Please try to find this spot!!

21st November 2021

A World Heritage Irrigation Structure-Josai-Gokuchi Yosui

It was a nice day for hand-on training yesterday. We visited Kamitaki area, about 20-min by car from Toyama station. The mountain covered with snow is Mt.Yakushi-dake, a part of the Tateyama Mountain Range. Oh winter is just around the corner!

This water way is called Josai-Gokuchi Yosui, a agricaltural irrigation canal. This canal was registered as a World Heritage Irrigation Structure last December.

This irrigation water is used for farmland. Furthermore, this water is utilized for hydroelectricity and industrial water. This water wheel ,6.5 in diameter, is a small hydroelectric plant. I found a cute statue near the canal!

6th November 2021

Early November is the perfect season to see autumn leaves in Kurobe Gorge. This is the view from the Rooftop Observation Platform of Keyakidaira station.(terminal station of Kurobe Gorge Railway) The red bridge is Okukane Bridge.

This time I'd like to introduce attractive visiting spots near Keyakidaira station. This is "Hitokui-iwa" or People-eating Crag, located a five-minute walk from the station. This walkway is carved into the cliff face of Mt.Okukane. This craggy face , resembling an open mouth, seems like it's going to devour the people walking along it. Be careful!!?

I took this photo from "Riverside Viewing Platform" near the station. It's very nice view. Don't you think so? Oh there is a foot bath at this platform. So if you are tired from walking around, how about enjoying the foot bath? Oh don't forget to bring your own towel!

2nd November 2021

Tateyama Caldera

I took this photo yesterday!. This is Mikurigaike pond at Murodo, the terminal of Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. Last fall I visited there. Yah, it was beautiful day yesterday.

This time I stopped over at Midagahara station.Midagahara is a hiking spot with a panoramic view of wetland. You can see many small ponds, called "Gakita". This area was registered as a Ramsar Convention site in July 2012. But I didn't have time to walk around Midagahara.

I took part in the Geo-Tour to learn about Tatayama Caldera. From Midagahara we walked in the forest to the Tateyama Caldera Observatory. It took about 20 min. Tateyama Caldera is a huge sunken place near Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route. This caldera was built not only by the volcanic activities , but also by the erosive actions. A huge mount of rock and earth had accumulated there. In order to prevent the debris flow, the highest barrier in Japan was built there.

This tour course lunch was Kaisendon, or seafood rice bowl ,at Hotel Tateyam at Murodo(2450 meters above sea level)!!! I enjoyed white shrimp and yellowtail,both are Toyama's specialties. Very delicious!

11th October 2021

Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design 2

It was nice day for playing outside today. This is XX park!? Oh no, it's a rooftop garden of Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design.(Please refer to the blog of 20th May 2021)

There are eight types of play equipment which were inspired from the idea of "Onomatopoeia". "HISO HISO" means whispering. Both parents and children can learn art and design through play.

It was clear day, so I enjoyed the nice view of the Tateyama Mountain Range and Fugan-Kansui Park from the rooftop. From late fall to early summer you can enjoy the splendid view of the Tateyama Mountain Range covered with snow! It's very beautiful!

Today I'd like to introduce the new restaurant in this museum, BiBiBi & JURULi. The theme of this restaurant…

"Art" stimulates your sensibility "BiBiBi" and "Eat" stimulates your appetite "JURULi"

This is "Composition Plate" by using Toyama's seasonal ingredients.(\1,800) Before eating let's try to rearrange vessels as you like!

3rd October 2021

Gokayama

Gokayama, in Toyama prefecture , is famous for Gassho style houses.This type of thatched house with steep-slope roof is called a "Gassho" style. "Gassho" originally means the pray pose in Japan, putting both your hands together in front of your face or breast. We usually use this pose when we visit temples and shrines. There are two Gassho style villages in Gokayama, Ainokura village and Suganuma village. Both villages were registered on UNESCO's World Heritage List in 1995.

Outside the villages there are some Gassho style houses. This is one of them,the Murakami Residence. This house was built about 350 years ago.

Thatch is a dried material (such as straw or leaves), so it's necessary to rethatch the roof every 15 ～20 years.The Murakami Residence's rethatch work was in progress when I visited there the other day. It is said that the cost of rethatching is more than ＄100,000!!!!!

Hojozu Hachimangu Shrine

This is Hojozu Hachimangu shrine. The original shrine was built in 746. It is said that the famous poet, Otomo-no Yakamochi who lived in Toyama as a provincial governor , wanted to build this shrine. But unfortunately the original one was burnt down in 1845. The current shrine was built in 1863.(about 30 min from Toyama station by car)

These are "Komainu". Komainu is an imaginal creature looks like lion or dog. You can find them inside the shrine grouns in pairs.One opens its mouth and the other one closes its mouth. It is said they guard the shrine. Many of them are made of stone, but these are made of wood, zelkova.They were donated to this shrine in 1846. Probably this is my first time to see Komainu made of wood. Oh, you can see sanitizer!

This is Temizu where you purify your hand and mouth before approaching the main sacred place. Before the pandemic you cleanse our hands and rinse your mouth here. But it's very dengerous now! So please cleanse your hands by alcohol-based sanitizer!?

29th August 2021

Rainy Season

These are water lilies, also famous in the rainy season. Talking about "water lily" , you might think about Monet Water Lily Pond in France. But this place is not a pond. It used to be a castle moat in the Civil War, about 500 years ago.

I visited Ranjyo-no-Mori park to enjoy the lily festival yesterday. But yesterday was the last day of the festival,so some of them have already wilted. I should have come earlier!!

21st Jun 2021

Snow Wall

Have you ever seen Snow Wall like this? You can see this snow wall near Murodo bus terminal in Toyama prefecture until 22th Jun. The highest point of the snow wall was 11 meters yesterday.

We can learn how to make this snow wall!

If you are lucky, you can watch SAMURAI Performance. Oh sorry, the lines are Japanese only.

There is a small snow wall near the Tateyama Nature Conservation Center.

Three mountains on the left, Mt. Oyama (3003m) , Mt. Onanji (3015m) and Fuji-no-Oridate (2999m), are collectively called Tateyama. A part of the Northern Japan Alps, including Tateyama, is called the Tateyama Mountain Range.

It was very nice weather yesterday. I enjoyed walking around the bus terminal.(opposit side of the Snow Wall) Very slippery, so trekking shoes are my recomendation. Oh it's nice to enjoy skiing like him!!

2nd Jun 2021

Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design

There are quite a few museums in Toyama city. Today I'd like to introduce one of them, Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art and Design. (TAD) The glass-walled building in the back of this photo is TAD. Can you find TAD?

I visited this museum today to see the special exhibition "Masterpieces of the Pola Museum of Art; Impression to ECOLE DE PARIS". I enjoyed wonderful pictures by Laprade, Renoir, Chagall, etc. As permanent exhibits, there are collected posters and chairs of outstanding design.

The east sides on the 2nd and 3rd floors are covered with glass walls. So after taking a stroll around the museum, you can enjoy the nice view of Fugan-Kansui Park and the Tateyama Mountain Rang(a part of Northern Japan Alps).Unfortunately it was cloudy…

You can see 3 statues of bears in the outdoor plaza of 2nd floor. This is the biggest one, very huge!! On the rooftop, there are some onomatopoeia play equipments. So both parents and children can enjoy this museum.

20th May 2021

Flowers

There are many varieties of cherry blossom trees in Japan. Double-flowered cherry trees are in full bloom now. They are very gorgeous!

This season you can enjoy colorful tulips in Toyama. Tulips are Toyama prefecture's official flower. Toyama is famous for not only the shipment amount of tulip bulbs, but also the number of varieties.

Today is the opening day of Tulip Fair in Tonami.(about 1 hour from Toyama city by car) The Blue Inpulse flight team performed acrobatics in the sky. It was a very wonderful view!! It was not that crowded, I thought. But…a 15km-long traffic jam! I've never experienced such a long traffic jam in Toyama. Oh I forgot that there were several nice view points in Tonami!

22nd April 2021

Shokoji Temple

It was a nice day for taking a walk, not too hot, not too cold. So I visited Shokoji Temple in Fushiki. It takes about 10 minutes by train from Takaoka Station to Fushiki Station.(Ref. Tour4) It's a five-minute walk from the station.This temple has fully reopend this April after 20 years restoration.

This temple is famous for the seven wonders. I could find one of them."The monkey supporting the roof". Can you see it?

Announcement of flowering

Yesterday there was an announcement of flowering by the Toyama Meteorological Agency. This is the eariest announcement for last several decades. Can you believe it? We had the heaviest snow in 35 years this January. This is Kansui Park near Toyama station.(about 10m walk) Only a few cherry blossom trees were in full bloom.

This is the Fugan Canal.(from Kansui Park to Toyama Bay, 5.1km) There is a promenade along the canal.You can not only walk along the canal, but also enjoy Canal cruising! Please check the detail of the cruising.

The center of the canal, there is the Nakajima Lock. This lock was built in 1934, in order to adjust for the 2.5m difference between the upper and lower sections.You can enjoy "water elevator" here.

25th March 2021

It was 20℃ today. So spring has come!??…I'm afraid not…According to the weather forecast, it'll snow this Wednesday. Oh no more snow, please. This is the Tateyama Mountain Range, a part of the Northern Japan Alps.