“Traveling for seasonal events and sights is one of the most frustrating parts about wandering the world. Missed butterfly migrations, glowing algae bays or blooming cherry blossoms are a wrench in the ill-timed soul.” – Old Sean
North to Toyama
I really love Japan’s train system. I know that’s hardly an original reason to appreciate the country, but it’s a fantastically smooth and comfortable way to get around. With that, the numerous Wi-Fi hotspots and the heated magic toilet seats, I’m going to have trouble readjusting to the rest of the world when all this is over.
But another step of my journey is finished, as I made my way to Toyama for the usual array of activities.
Toyama is most famous for hosting large bays of bioluminescent squid, which appear in breeding bays during the spring. Unfortunately, I’ve arrived too early for that and needed to find other ways to occupy my time.
Glass Realms
The first thing I did after dropping my gear off at the hostel, was explore some of the downtown area, which interestingly has a modernist building known as the Glass Museum. Entrance to the exhibition is about 1,000 yen, and it’s very much worth it.
The building itself is a network of escalators and lined wood all opening towards the airy center of the museum. Resources, books, cafés and lounging museum folk rest in the various halls. But the actual exhibits are fantastic.
The lower levels consist of creative and abstract pieces, many of them in the shape of colorful and textured vases. The delicate necks often spin off at unlikely and elegant angles and the colors that glow within the glasswork are stunning.
Unfortunately, the lower levels of the museum have a strict no photography policy with several guards, so I cannot provide photos here.
The sixth level is the most compelling. Glasswork crafted by visionary Chihuly shows glass blown shapes in twisting spirals of iridescent color on perfectly black surfaces intermittently spaced with large, planetary globes speckled with slashing patterns.
This section of the Museum did allow for photography, but only for personal and educational uses, strongly requesting that photos taken not be posted online. This is fine with me, as this kind of exhibit is quite immersive and doesn’t translate well into pictures. But the experience there was my favorite in the city.
Park Points
There were relatively few points of interest I had in Toyama.
The Toyama Castle Ruins are not ruins at all, but a completely repaired structure with the bare ruins shown inside.
Kencho Mae Park is a rather bland but quaint little park that is lit up very well at night with colored lights.
The Toyama Hall Observation Tower has a great view of the city and can peer into the mountains without any other skyscrapers obscuring the visage, but its best at night when the quiet city rolls out like a glittering carpet, creasing lines split by canals and rivers.
Further time spent at Iwasekoshimachi Beach was excellent, with mountains in view above the waves while wet-suited surfers tried their luck on near the breakers.
But the real reason that I went to Toyama is access to the idyllic Japanese village of Shirakawa. I have one final short night sleeping in Toyama before I head onwards.
Off to Shirakawa,
Best regards and excellent trails,
Old Sean
Written on January 31st 2020
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