The Flavors and Sights of Gifu and Toyama Prefectures, Part 2 — Toyama Prefecture

The Flavors and Sights of Gifu and Toyama Prefectures — Part 2: Toyama Prefecture

From the dramatic scenery of the Japanese Alps to the deep scent of the sea. Two 48-hour journeys in search of flavor and style in Gifu and Toyama prefectures, which embrace the varied nature of Honshu.

Words Hur Taewoo
Photos Park Shinwoo

There are currently no direct flights from Korea to Gifu or Toyama, the two prefectures featured in this article, but getting there from elsewhere in Japan is easy, so you can plan the trip along several routes. Considering the itinerary and travel efficiency, we recommend the following routes.

A. Pick up and return a rental car in Matsumoto, then fly home to Korea via Fukuoka
Incheon (International Airport) - Fukuoka - Matsumoto - Gifu - Toyama - Matsumoto - Fukuoka – Incheon (International Airport)
B. Return the rental car you picked up in Matsumoto, take a train to Nagoya, and fly home to Korea from Chubu Centrair International Airport
Incheon (International Airport) - Fukuoka - Matsumoto - Toyama - Gifu - Nagoya – Incheon (International Airport)

※ The domestic flight connecting Fukuoka Airport and Matsumoto Airport (Nagano Prefecture) is operated by Fuji Dream Airlines, and fares for foreign visitors make the trip more affordable (flight time about 1 hour 30 minutes). www.fujidream.co.jp/ko

Day 1 11:00 Kurobe Gorge (黒部峡谷) and Kuronagi Onsen (黒薙溫泉)

If you travel through the Japanese Alps in Toyama Prefecture and skip Kurobe Gorge, you may feel you have missed something. The gorge is counted among Japan’s three great ravines. Made up of steep V-shaped walls, dense forest, and the emerald Kurobe River cutting through it all, it more than deserves to be called a “hidden wonder” of Toyama.
An attempt a century ago to harness the gorge’s river for electric power gave rise to today’s gorge railway. It opened in stages from 1923, and after the dam construction was completed, it began running as a sightseeing train in the 1950s. Departing from Unazuki Station (宇奈月駅), the dainty Torokko (トロッコ) train recreates the atmosphere of the past just as it was. Along rails laid to build dams and power plants, the Torokko creeps into Kurobe Gorge. After the train crosses Yamabiko Bridge (山彦), the gorge’s hidden scenery gradually unfolds on the right, and it is breathtaking. Crimson maple leaves pile up in dense layers of forest, and below them the fiercely flowing Kurobe River glitters jade green. In the deep gorge, shadowed from early in the day, you almost seem to glimpse the movement of wild animals. Each time the train passes through another tunnel, passengers let out cries of wonder at the gorge.
About 25 minutes after departure, the train reaches Kuronagi Station (黒薙駅), the midpoint of the gorge line. From here, it is a walk of about 20 minutes along a mountain path to Kuronagi Onsen. Following a narrow trail barely wide enough for two people, winding this way and that, you finally come upon the Kuronagi Onsen ryokan. It is a secluded hot spring, a hitou (秘湯), reachable only by the gorge train and on foot.
The hot spring is said to have been first discovered around 1640, in the early Edo period, and it has been open to the general public since 1868. The current ryokan building is about 120 years old. The waters of Unazuki Onsen, with a history of more than 100 years, are also supplied from here. In step with the gorge train’s operating season, the ryokan and hot spring welcome guests only from May to November. According to the story passed down, before the railway opened, the place was so remote that people would stay for a month or two at a time. These days, many people come for the day just to bathe and return, and quite a few short-stay guests arrive from Europe. Kuronagi’s waters are mildly alkaline, known for their soft feel. The source bath lies about 50 meters from the ryokan, hidden deep in the valley as if it had become one with its surroundings. Without the steam rising from the open-air pool, you might not even notice it. Just seeing the hot spring, at one with nature beneath the sound of the gorge’s rapids and the wind, begins to soothe the body a little.

+Kurobe Gorge Railway fare to Kuronagi Station: 1,660 yen for adults, 840 yen for children (an additional 600 yen per ride for cars with windows); fares vary by season.    www.kurotetu.co.jp

+Kuronagi Onsen day-use bathing fee: 1,000 yen for adults, 400 yen for children, free for preschoolers.    www.kuronagi.jp

17:00 Fugan Canal Kansui Park (富岩運河環水公園)

Fugan Canal Kansui Park, set in the heart of Toyama City, feels like an oasis in the city. It is a modern park developed from the Fugan Canal, which was built in the early Showa era for flood control and freight transport. The wide lawns along the canal and the contemporary architecture around them create a refined scene, and it is a pleasant place to rest at any hour of the day or night as you move around the city. Toward evening, office workers off the clock and dogs out for walks join in, and the park gets rather crowded. The Starbucks Toyama Kansui Park store, nicknamed “the most beautiful Starbucks in the world,” is another sight not to be missed. Wrapped in glass walls on one side of the lakeside park, the stylish shop is especially popular for its terrace seating. Better still, take a coffee to go and climb the observation tower of Tenmon Bridge (天門橋), which links the two sides of the park. The view opens up wide over the park, the city, and, far off, the Tateyama range of the Japanese Alps, with a touch of wistfulness. It is just as captivating at night when the lights come on, so we recommend making time to visit.

+Observation tower hours: 9am–9:30pm

19:00 Daishu Kappo Arakawa (大衆割烹 あらかわ)

Arakawa is an izakaya founded in 1967. Open the modest door of this second-generation veteran, and the lively chatter and noise set your body swaying on its own. Sit at one of the six or so tachinomi (standing-style) spots, watch the chef at work, and wait for the dishes to arrive one by one. Needless to say, Toyama’s seafood is the main event. Grilled gengyo (幻魚, a deepwater fish from Toyama Bay), fried and sashimi shiroebi (white shrimp), pickled and raw hotaruika (firefly squid), fried minced fish, simmered yellowtail: the dishes that fill the everyday lives of Toyama people arrive without a moment to catch your breath. The small fried shiroebi are nutty and sweet, and you feel you could eat kilograms of them, while the rich texture of the dark pickled hotaruika calls for both sake and rice at once. If it is hard to choose from the menu, order the Arakawa Etchu Plate. Toyama’s signature dishes and local delicacies come packed onto a single plate. It goes without saying that it pairs well with Toyama sake in every way. Isn’t this just what a long-established restaurant tastes like? When you start to feel full, finish with pizza and tamagoyaki (rolled omelet), and your evening in Toyama will leave nothing to be desired.

+Etchu Plate: 3,800 yen    www.wildriver.jp

8:00 Himi Fish Market Cafeteria (氷見魚市場食堂) and Amaharashi Coast (雨晴海岸)

Toyama Bay has a nickname: ‘Tennen no ikesu’ (天然のいけす), or “the natural fish pen.” Meltwater from the eternal snows of Mount Tateyama flows into the bay, feeding plankton-rich waters, and its deep seabed supports an abundance of seafood. Himi Fishing Port, about 50 minutes by car from central Toyama, lands the largest catch in the prefecture. Every morning, seasonal seafood converges on the port’s auction hall, and Himi’s winter yellowtail (buri) is considered the finest in Japan. The best place for travelers to taste Himi’s seafood at its freshest is the Himi Fish Market Cafeteria on the second floor of the port building. Visitors from out of town come here, and so do the fishermen from the port. It opens at dawn and serves fish caught just hours earlier, as sashimi or over rice. The menu shifts a little with each day’s catch, but the flavor is guaranteed. A kaisendon (seafood rice bowl) piled high with sashimi and a bowl of ryoshijiru (fishermen’s soup), rich with umami, are enough to make you feel the whole of Toyama’s sea has settled in your stomach.
Not far from the port, Amaharashi Coast is Toyama Bay’s signature scenic spot. The deep blue sea and the peaks of Mount Tateyama fit into a single frame, which is why it appears in nearly every photo promoting Toyama. The sight of the single-track JR Himi Line train passing in front of it is famous too, so dozens of tourists with cameras usually gather to wait for the moment. For the best view of that moment, head to Cafe ISOMI TERRACE inside Michi-no-Eki Amaharashi, the roadside rest area in front of the beach. From the terrace, you can take in the sea, the Tateyama range and the train all at once. The roadside station also houses a cafe, a souvenir shop, a viewing terrace and a tourist information center, which makes it quite useful for travelers.

+ Himi Hamadon (氷見 浜丼), a bowl of rice topped with six kinds of seafood caught that day, regular size 2,080 yen :    himi_uoichiba

+ Michi-no-Eki Amaharashi :    michinoeki-amaharashi.jp

13:00 Kaiten Toyama Sushi (廻転とやま鮨)

“Winner of the national conveyor-belt sushi championship!” So reads the slogan posted at the entrance of Kaiten Toyama Sushi, in front of Toyama Station. Among the people lined up on the waiting bench outside, you can spot the trophy sitting quietly on display. The restaurant draws on a local brand called ‘Toyama Bay Sushi’ (富山湾鮨) to serve tasty sushi at reasonable prices. It runs its main branch and two other locations just around the station, and has recently expanded to Ginza in Tokyo, making it a nationally known favorite. After waiting for our turn and stepping inside, we felt the particular energy of a conveyor-belt sushi spot. Chefs deftly shaped sushi, surrounded by conveyors moving at a steady pace, while customers waited for their own plates with bright eyes. Here you can order not only items from the belt but also set menus, using a multilingual tablet menu. Casually enjoy sushi made with Toyama Bay’s fresh seafood, such as nodoguro (blackthroat seaperch), shiroebi (white shrimp), Toyama konbu (kelp) and hotaruika (firefly squid). Just be careful of the stack of plates that grows before you realize it.

+ Lunch sets from 1,500 yen :    r720200.gorp.jp

15:00 Yoshinotomo Brewery (吉乃友酒造)

There is one more flavor that depends on the clear water flowing down from the Tateyama range: Toyama’s sake. In Toyama, breweries were built where the best water could be found, and for centuries they have made sake that pairs well with ingredients from the sea and the mountains. Founded in 1877, Yoshinotomo Brewery is one of the breweries leading Toyama’s celebrated sake scene. For more than 60 years it has produced only junmai (pure rice sake), made from just rice, koji and water, and it is said to be the only brewery in the prefecture devoted entirely to junmai. It also offers tastings and brewery tours, making it a good place to experience Toyama sake more deeply.
Yoshinotomo handles everything itself, starting with milling its own rice at the brewery’s polishing facility, which is rare even in Japan. To suit the fine water, it uses Yamada Nishiki (山田錦) and Gohyakumangoku (五百万石), both regarded as the best sake rice varieties, along with Tomi no Kaori (富の香), a variety developed in Toyama. All of it is grown in Toyama, so the sake can hardly help but taste good. The brewery even makes a junmai at an 18 percent rice-polishing ratio, among the highest grades, meaning 82 percent of each grain is milled away and the sake is brewed only from the starchy core that remains. The resulting sake shows the rice’s natural umami clearly, and from aroma to finish it is remarkably clean and smooth. A few years ago, Yoshinotomo also introduced the Kisaki (后) label, which gives its sake a modern sensibility. The branding takes female customers into account, and the sake itself recreates the flavors of white and sparkling wines. Kisaki, which is just as good poured into a wine glass, has already won several awards at international competitions. One small sip of the junmai ‘Kisaki 28,’ polished to 28 percent, is enough to understand its power. Its calm aroma, which wraps gently around the nose and palate, calls to mind Toyama’s generous landscape.

+ Kisaki 28 Black 11,000 yen :     yoshinotomo.com

18:00 Sushidokoro Sasaki (寿し処 佐々木)

As you may have already guessed, Toyama takes great pride in its sushi. The “Toyama Bay Sushi” brand was created to promote it by the Toyama Prefecture Sushi Sanitation Trade Association together with Toyama Prefecture. The region’s traditional specialty is masuzushi, a pressed sushi made with trout, but today hand-pressed nigirizushi is the mainstream.
On the first floor of a small building in downtown Toyama, Sushidokoro Sasaki, run by Chef Sasaki, lets you savor the essence of Toyama sushi reborn through a master’s hands. The restaurant is modest, with about 15 seats in all, yet its immaculately kept interior already hints at deep mastery. A signed jersey from Hachimura Rui, the NBA player from Toyama, and a decorative baseball bat from Suzuki Ichiro hint at the restaurant’s popularity. Owner-chef Sasaki, who serves as president of the Toyama Prefecture sushi association, has devoted 36 years to sushi. He is surely superb and practiced in the knife work that breaks down fish and in the nigiri technique of shaping each piece, but his devotion to sushi never lets a single day slip by carelessly. Even now, he goes every morning to the fish markets of Toyama’s various districts to buy the finest ingredients himself. Shiroebi (white shrimp) from Iwase, aji (horse mackerel) from Shinminato, kijiebi (spiny lobster) from Namerikawa, ara (longtooth grouper) from Iwase… He recites them with ease, as if it were simply the routine of several decades. Because the fish come straight from the port, they are bound to be fresh and bound to taste superb. His care does not stop there. Chef Sasaki peels the shiroebi shells himself and makes the pickled ginger himself.
Passing through the master’s economical movements and arriving in neat presentation, the omakase spread looks like a set of small works of art. With every piece of sushi that enters your mouth, you regret that its flavor will fade. Richness, sweetness, umami, fattiness and delicate lightness appear and vanish. Nature provides the fresh seafood, but isn’t it a person’s fingertips that draw out its perfect flavor?

+Omakase courses from ¥11,000; reservations by phone required:  076-431-6788