Everything you never wanted to know about Toyama

Unless you're one of the few people who have been to Toyama before and put it as one of your placement requests, chances are you'd never even heard of it before. You wanted Kyoto, Osaka, or Nara. You're pissed off. Don't worry, we understand! This page is here to let you know a bit about the place that you're going to call home for the next 12 months.

Where is Toyama?

Toyama Prefecture is in the centre of Honshu on the Sea of Japan. It's bordered by Ishikawa prefecture on the West, Gifu on the South, and Nagano and Niigata on the East. We're about 3.5-5 hours to Tokyo, 3-4 hours to Osaka and 3 hours to Kyoto by shinkansen/express train, depending on where you start from.

Basic Information

Toyama (富山 - meaning "abundant mountains") has a population of just over 1,100,000. The capital is Toyama City. Other large cities are Takaoka and Uozu. Recent government mergers have created other cities such as Nanto and Imizu, but these are really just lots of towns/villages with a combined budget and new official name.

Landscape and Weather

Toyama has a long stretch of coastline, and several slightly disappointing beaches which ALTs favour for getting drunk on in the summer. There are mountains. Lots of mountains. The Northern Alps cut through the prefecture which make for long journeys and lots of opportunities for winter sports. The cities are somewhat grey and depressing, but the countryside is green and lovely. If you live in inaka, there's a LOT of rice around you.

Toyama has four seasons! And the locals are proud to boast about them.

Let's start in August when you get here. It's hot, oh so hot and humid. September is slightly less humid but still really warm. Expect typhoons. Keep an eye on the weather forecast and don't leave your knickers on the washing line or they'll be returned to you by your bemused landlord who found them in a paddyfield.

October and November are really nice months - go to Kojo Park in Takaoka or Gokayama for the autumn leaves. [Ed: This was written by a Scot. As an American, I find autumn depressingly drizzly. --Carl] It only starts to get cold towards the end of November. It gets a lot colder and sometimes the snow starts in December. Keep an eye out for the amazing purple lightning snow storms.

Let's bunch January, February and March together. They're grey, depressing and cold, and you notice it more because of your paper-thin walls and lack of central heating. If you live outside of the cities, and especially in the more mountainous areas, prepare yourself for A LOT of snow. We hope you like Winter Sports!

Things start to get a bit better towards the end of March, and April is when it starts to warm up and the blossoms appear, so you can enjoy getting hammered in the park/by the river whilst enjoying "hanami". May is a good month. Warm, sunny, and dry. Make the most of it because the rainy season comes in June and can last from 2-5 weeks. It does provide a little break from the heat but after it goes, it's July and you're back into hot and humid hell again.

Oh yeah, we don't get much in the way of earthquakes either. Depending on your point of view, this is either a good or a bad thing.

What is there to do in Toyama?

Yeah, so we're no Tokyo or Kyoto, but it's not THAT bad here.

We have lots and lots of great festivals spread throughout the year. Check out the events page for information on that. In the winter, you can ski and snowboard to your heart's content. The bigger cities have lots of bars and even a few "clubs" (hahaha) for blowing your salary in. The small towns have lots of izakayas filled with local sukebes. If you're into the traditional Japanese stuff, there are World Heritage Sites, Big Brass Buddhas and enough temples and shrines to last you a lifetime. If you need a reminder of home, there are the two massive shopping malls, AEON and Favore where you can go to the cinema, buy brands that you recognise and, yes, even enjoy a Starbucks beverage of your choice.

If we haven't sold you by now, then I guess we never will. And remember, you can always escape to the relative civilization of Kanazawa City in Ishikawa, or bugger off to Osaka/Tokyo for the weekend...

What's the JET community like?

There are around 100 JETs in Toyama, and most of you will never be more than a short drive away from someone else. Whether or not you choose to hang out with other JETs is up to you! The prefecture is split up into 4 regions for administrative reasons, so you'll attend meetings and perhaps do more stuff with other JETs from your area. People from Takaoka and Toyama cities always argue about which is better. There's usually something going on at the weekends...check out the message boards/events section for general invitations to stuff.

There's also some branches of AEON and Nova, and other private English schools in the bigger cities. There are also a few people who work for Japanese companies. The main foreign population is made up of people from Brazil, China, Russia and The Philippines.

Prefectural Symbols

The offical Toyama "coat of arms":

Indeed.

Prefectural Flower: Tulip

Prefectural Bird: Ptarmigan

Prefectural Animal: Japanese Antelope

Prefectural Fish: Yellowtail, white shrimp and firefly squid:

Glowy.

Claims to Fame

  • Number one rate of home-ownership in Japan! Biggest homes!
  • A low rate of fire outbreaks!
  • Highest average saving rate in Japan!
  • Highest number of books in public libraries in Japan!
  • Birthplace of the guy who made Doraemon!
  • Home of YKK, famous zip makers!
  • You can visit Big Ben and The Statue of Liberty without leaving the prefecture!
  • THE Pachinko capital of Japan! (that one makes me tear up a little...)
  • Home of Japan's 4th National World Heritage Site AND the number three brass buddha in Japan!
  • One Starbucks!