Tour Concierge Toyama

It was a beautiful autumn day yesterday, so I went to Kurobe Gorge to see autumn leaves. It takes about one hour from Toyama station to Unazuki station by car. Unazuki is the starting station of Kurobe Gorge Railway.

If you have time to get on the train, how about strolling around Unazuki Station? Only 15-min walk , you can get to the Unazuki dam.

There are 3 kinds of passenger trains and this is the most popular one. According to the official site, "Torokko Electric Railway's open carriage is a great way to see the Kurobe Gorge". Oh yes, I enjyed spectacular view of the gorge! Please make sure to wrap up warm! Yesterday many people were wearing down coats.

It takes 80 min from Unazuki Station to the terminal station, Keyakidaira. So you can enjoy a lot of beautiful spots.

Around Keyakidaira, the terminal station, there are several sightseeing spots. I decided to go to Babadani hot spring! In Japanese "baba" means grandmother and "dani" or "tani" means valley. About 1 hour-walk from Keyakidaira.

There are 3 tunnels. This is the longest one. It looks nice, don't you think so?

At last I arrived at Babadani hot spring!!I was lucky, because yesterday was the last day of this year. Right bath is for women (like a cottage)and left one is for men.

It was a very nice hot spring! I felt refresh! Of course I had to return to the station on foot…It's worth checking out!

Do you like Ramen-noodle? There are a lot of ramen restaurants in Toyama. This "White shrimp chicken ramen" is Halal ramen. So this chicken is of course Halal chicken, and marinated with "Sio-koji". Sio-koji is a traditional Japanese fermented ingredient, which is a mixture of salt, water and koji(malted rice). So this chicken is juicy and delicious! This Ramen restaurant "Iroha" is a few minutes walk from Toyama station. But now this is not a regular menu, so please make a reservation. 81-50-3461-0940.

This is vegetarian, vegan and Halal restaurant. And also serve gulten-free foods. So if you are allergic to wheat , you can taste ramen-noodle. This noodle is made from rice powder.

Do you know Arimine Dam? It's at the foot of the Tateyema Mountain Range, the opposite side of the famous Kurobe Dam. But the total capacity of this dam is a little bit larger than Kurobe Dam.

The spot ,covered with colorful trees , is Horai Island. But because of the abnormal hot summer(?), the water level in the dam dropped! So we got there on foot.

There're 5 promenades around the dam. We walked the easiest one,and saw some "bear beds". There are a lot of acon trees, so this promenade is a nice restaurant for bears!

Yesterday we enjoyed walking along the Itachi-river. This river runs in the east of Toyama city, near Toyama Castle. Along the river ,there are 19 Jizo-Bosatsu statues.

There are also several spring water spots along the river. This is the most famous one where underground water from the Tateyama Mountain Range gushes out. This water is very delicious, so many people use this water for coffee, tea,etc. It's free, and only about 15 min walk from Toyama Castle. So please try to taste it!

The Halal & Vegetarian(Vegan) seminar was held in Toyama city.This is Masu-zushi, or trout-sushi. It's a kind of a pressed sushi and Toyama's specialty. There are dozens of Masu-zushi makers in Toyama. One of the makers( Chitose) got Halal certification in this January. Toyama is working on the spread of halal and vegitarian(also vegan) food. Please visit the web-site!

This is Gokoku Hachiman Shrine in Oyabe city.(about 1 hour from Toyama Station by car) According to the legend, the original shrine was built in 718. The current shrine buildings were modified about 400 years ago. Many famous warriors , who were closely connected with Toyama, came to pray their victory. And of course when they returned home in triumph, they financed to renovate this shrine.

This is the bronze statue of Kiso Yoshinaka, who was the famous warrior in Toyama. BY the way, how heavy do you think this statue is? Oh it's 5 t!!

This shrine is the starting point of the historical national road. This road was selected one of the 100 historical roads in Japan. It's a nice season for hiking. But an officer said "Please go hiking in a group. And be careful of boars and bears!". Oh no!!

Do you know Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route? It's a very popular scenic route that traverses the Tateyama Mountain Range(a part of the Northern Japan Alps). The day before yesterday, I went to Murodo-daira to see the autumn leaves. Murodo-daira is the highest spot of this route (2450m).

This is Mikurigaike pond, the biggest pond in Murodo-daira area. There is a hiking course. You can stroll around the pond in about an hour. According to the guidebook "When you hike here, it is better to carry rain gear and wear appropriate footwear such as hiking boots." It was rainy day! The temperature was 8℃ ! (Toyama city's temperature was 23℃) So please check the weather beforehand !

Last Saturday one of our members and I took part in a study tour of TCA(Toyama Cosmopolitan Association)-Canal Cruise & Port Town Iwase Tour.(Ref. Tour3) This photo is Fugan Kansui Park , about 10 minutes' walk from Toyama station. The Canal Cruise starts from this park.

The middle of the Canal, there is a lock named Nakajima Lock. Our boat entered the lock, and the back gate was closing! You can have an experience of " water elevator".

AT the end of the tour, we visited KOBO Brew Pub. Please refer to the blog of 22th June 2020(2020年06月22日).

This is a Sake bar "Saseki" near KOBO Brew Pub. You can taste about 100 different types of Sake at this bar. Do you know Toyama is famous for rice seeds throughout Japan? Fresh water and rich soil are the key points for rice seeds. And also they are the important elements for tasty rice and sake!

Toyama is facing the Sea of Japan. So we can see the sunset over the sea from Iwase!!

In October 2014, Toyama Bay was formally recognized as a member of "The Most Beautiful Bays in the World Club". From this spot of Toyama Bay, you can take superb photos!! The conbination of Kaio-Maru, Shinminato Bridge and the Tateyama Mountain Range is very beautiful.Oh unfortunately it was cloudy.

This is Kaio-Maru, sailling ship, called Lady of the Sea. Setting with full sails, she is very beautiful!

Today we had a pleasant experience of Uchikawa River Cruise with this seagull!!? We passed under 11 bridges. This cruise takes about 1 hour ,but today we had a stopover at a river-side station.

After strolling around the station, we dropped in a cafe. This building used to be a fishermen's work-hut.

And we ate this one. What do you think it is? Ramen-noodle? Udon-noodle? The answer is …Ramen-noodle with Udon-broth! It's one of this area's special foods. Please try!!

Yesterday we went to Nissekiji temple on a research trip(Oh it's excursion!!).Please refer to the blog 3rd June 2020(2020年06月03日）. We took this cute local bus yesterday!(about 20 min ride)

We checked out the tour course…but it was too hot to walk around, so we took a break in front of 12-falls. From this spot, we descended to the ravine, called Sengankei.

There're a number of rocks and water streams, flowing through those rocks, produce small waterfalls. It was nice and cool there!

There is a cave! It was a little bit slippery to reach there.

The end of the trip, we enjoyed tasting a famous soft-served ice cream. Oh it was delicious!

"Kirari", Toyama Glass Art Museum & Public Library, marked the 5th anniversary last Saturday. Celebrating the anniversary, a backyard tour was held, and an architect , who was involved in the construction, talked about the structure and splendid ideas of this building. PLease come and see this creative building!

Oh Japanese serow! To escape from the heat of summer, I went to the foot of Tateyama, Awasuno. On the way to a fall, today's destination, I saw a Japanese serow. Oh he(or she?) glared at me?

This is Ryujin (Ryu means dragon and jin means God) fall. It's a small waterfall. Do you know Shomyo Fall? It's the tallest waterfall in Japan(350m high). Shomyo fall is near Awasuno.

The downstream of the waterfall, there is a beutiful sight spot.

It was 35.2℃ yesterday! In spite of the heat, we gathered at Toyama Municipal Folkcraft Village to attend the video recording session by Toyama City.(Ref.Tour2) At the end of the session, we shouted(?)"Tour Concierge Toyama!".Because of Covid-19, there are no tourists from overseas in Toyama.We are looking forward to meeting you sometime in the future. Please stay safe!!!!

Yesterday I went to a new pub in Iwase.(Ref. Tour3) This building is 100 year-old warehouse that has been renovated as brewery and pub.

You can taste 10 types of craft-beer here. 5 of them are made here by a Czech brewer.

After storolling in Iwase town, this tasting set (with sausage and fried potato) refreshed me!

How have you been lately? Toyama is lifting restrictions on travel in the prefecture. So I visited Nissekiji temple, today.(about 30 min from Toyama station by car)This temple is famous for "Magaibutsu"(Buddha carved on a cliff) and "Takigyo"(Ascetic practices under a waterfall).

This is three-storied pagoda. Did you notice anything? Oh yes!? This pagoda has no wall! So you can see "Shin-bashira" or core pillar in the center. You can learn about the structure of a pagoda.

Somen noodles made of wheat flour(right) is the specialty of this area. After strolling around the temple, this coll noodle made me refresh! (28℃!! and very humid today)

Yesterday we went to Takaoka, about 20 min from Toyama station by train, to attend the special lunch at Craftan. This restaurant is famous for Kombu-kelp cuisine.We enjoyed the nice combination of Kombu-marinated vegetables & salmon and olive oil.

After lunch, we strolled around Takaoka and visited Zuiryuji temple(designated as a national treasure).

Yesterday I went to Unazuki Onsen(hot spring) to attend a study session about Geopark. I bought this ticket! But please be careful! It's not free of charge, It costs 2100 JPY.This "FREE" means that you can get on & off as much as you want .But anyway it's very reasonable, because it costs 1880 JPY from Toyama to Unazuki Onsen(one-way).

Before the session, I strolled around the station. This is the famous cafe , so I had lunch there.

Unazuki is the starting station of Kurobe Gorge Railway. During the winter season, it's closed. But it was fine day yesterday, so I enjoyed the beautiful scenery from observation spot.

This is Kurobe granite and it's the newest granite in the world. For the black & white pattern, it's called "Panda stone". But it looks like Koala! Don' you think so?

It's warm this winter, so we enjoyed walking around Iwase(a guest from UK and our members). It 's about 25 min by tram from Toyama Station. This area reserves ancient buildings and also is famous for Toyama's Sake!(Tour3…coming soon)

We dropped into a shop of processes fish products. There, you can taste Toyama's sake as a reasonable price.

They tried "Flight of Three sake".

This is a plate of assorted snacks, very healthy and delicious!You can buy and eat some processed fish products.