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The places in-between: Toyama
It’s easy to categorise Toyama simply: a traditional, beautiful and charming corner of Japan. Known for its woodcarving heritage, incredible coast-side sushi and epic alpine landscapes, it’s all these things. But its true character goes beyond centuries-old temples and quaint shopping streets. It’s a region where old charm meets modern ambition – and where tourists are a pivotal part of a new era.
One of New York Times top 52 places to visit in 2025, the Toyama prefecture is pricking up international ears. The Shinkansen bullet train line seamlessly connects Tokyo to the Toyama region in just two hours, and, thanks to the recent extension, Kanazawa and Fukui. But, the real story of Toyama goes beyond its convenience – it’s in the sheer skill and tenacity of its crafters, the ingenuity of its people and the symbiotic relationship it has with its past and future, nature and community.
Akiya (empty houses, a growing problem across Japan) are renovated into art hotels and Michelin listed restaurants. Persimmon gluts are transformed into craft beer. And its wood carving masters are teaching a new generation of young apprentices.
From empty spaces to thriving communities, Western Toyama is on the cusp of a cultural renaissance – one driven not by spectacle, but deep reverence for craft and connection.
Inami: carving a name for itself
The rhythmic tap of chisels punctuates your steps as you walk down Yokamachi Dori, Inami’s main street. Here, you’ll spot woodcarvers hunched over workbenches, illuminated by natural light streaming through open-fronted shop windows. This isn’t a staged performance – it’s a centuries-old tradition unfolding in real time.
Walking through Inami feels like stepping back into a bygone era. The effect of this artisanal spirit is everywhere (there’s even a cat carving on a vending machine). Even so, it’s not a town overrun by visitors – just 1% of international tourists visit the Toyama prefecture – and it feels remote. Its quiet is its charm, but also its challenge.
Japan’s rural population is dwindling, and the effects can be stark: vacant houses (over 9 million of them – that’s 14% of the country’s houses), empty storefronts, and niche crafts at risk of extinction. Like the practice of making the orin bells used in Buddhist temples: there are only 10 remaining craftsmen skilled enough to make them, and it can take 12 years to learn.
Yet, in Toyama, people are reclaiming these spaces: not just for business, but as a means for community outreach, and an immersive showcase of local art and skill.
Half an hour from Toyama City on the Tonami Plain, bordered by rice paddies and the Oyabe and Shogawa rivers, the Rakudo-An art hotel is an example of this deep desire to restore and repurpose. Working at Pola Contemporary Art Museum, near Mount Fuji, Sari Hayashiguchi was heartbroken to see the vacant farmhouses of her home region in disrepair. So, she returned to Takaoka in 2012. Appointed as a producer at Toyama West Tourism Promotion Association – Mizu to Takumi in 2019, she converted a 120-year-old farmhouse into a boutique hotel, where each room – silk, paper or soil themed – is created in partnership with a local artisan. Rooms are modern, airy and have lots of natural light. The furniture, tableware and decor are all made locally, providing guests with a uniquely beautiful place to sleep, while acting as an advert for the artisan’s work, too.
Rakudo-An’s positive community support extends beyond the walls of the hotel. 2% of room fees are donated back to the Kainyo Care Support Team who help to maintain the mini (and adorably named) “house forests” that surround and shelter surrounding homes from harsh winter elements. These kainyo are an integral part of the region’s cultural landscape and traditional way of life, but prove difficult to maintain, with elderly residents struggling with tree management. Staff and guests can volunteer to help prune the kainyo, with the spruce offcuts then used in the hotel’s aromatherapy products. Guests can then buy them to take home, in a pleasing full-cycle between nature, community and visitors.
Regeneration: rooted in community, nature and zombie beer
Back in Inami, Bed and Craft is a project that’s transformed six empty homes, once again in partnership with local artists. It functions as a “dispersed hotel” – with each of its uniquely designed accommodations located within reach of forward-thinking local amenities, each doing things differently.
Like new craft brewery, Nat. Brew (short for Nature), with its vision to create a “community-based brew”. Young fruit pickers are helping with this: harvesting persimmons from abandoned houses or the gardens of older residents’ homes for Nat. Brew to flavour their beer. The local bakery, too, donates stale bread – which Nat use to make the aptly named “Zombie” beer. In this way, the forgotten fruit of empty akiya and old bread are literally bringing new beer to life.
Organic farming is having its own growth spurt, too, backed by Japanese government. In 2020, only 0.5% of all farmland in Japan was organic – now, there’s a push to increase this to 25% by 2050.
Yujiro Yamazaki worked in the Tokyo music industry until he was 30. Then, he saw a documentary about farming which changed everything. Now, he’s head of a group of farmers, Nantonone, meaning root of Nanto, the town where Yamazaki is based. Working with Nat. Brew, he mixes the brewery’s spent hops with fallen leaves from the gardens of Inami’s Zentokuji Temple to make organic soil.
What feels like a dramatic career change isn’t such a leap for Yamazaki. In his words: “Music is the choice of what we hear. Food is the choice of what we consume.
“I’m proud of the fact that we recycle everything. For example, I use the hops from two breweries in Toyama to make organic soil – if I didn’t do that, the hops would simply go to waste. I also like that my daughter enjoys helping with the picking and the weeding – which is very useful!”
From bread, to beer, and a multi-generational return to the organic farming, natural produce is bringing forth new life.
Preservation and evolution: securing a future for the next generation
While the younger generation is tapping into new trends with a firm reliance on nature and community, the older generation isn’t sitting back – they’re just as passionate about improving Toyama for years to come.
Inami is the focal point for Toyama’s woodcarving, home to 20 woodcraft workshops, 200 artisans and the impressive Zuisenji Temple that stands at the centre of the craft. Built in 1390 and intricately carved throughout, the temple burned down a little over a hundred years ago, which drew famous woodcarver, Maekawa Sanshirou, from Kyoto to lead its restoration.
This phoenix-like story of “rising from the ashes” is mirrored in the town’s struggle to maintain a craft under threat today.
“The average age of woodcarvers in Inami is 70 years old”, explains Katsuhiko Nakajima from the Inami Woodcarving Association: “In ten years’ time, we could be down to fewer than 50 woodcarvers”.
To prevent this decline and ignite a new generation of woodcarvers, Nakajima has united a power trio of skill, talent and a fresh drive to keep the tradition going: made up of himself, Nobuo Taniguchi, an award-winning wood-carving master, and Asaya Gold, a 25-year-old German apprentice.
From learning how to perfectly sculpt Buddha’s face, to making a chess set (which takes months), Asaya is an inspiration to the school of woodcarvers in Inami. On dedicating his life to promoting Inami tourism, with a mission to increase the number of trainee woodcarvers and commissions, Nakajima says:
“Time is running out to preserve techniques. That’s why tourism is so important, it brings commissions. The disappearance of wood carving skill is a loss to humankind. Inami needs more visitors from outside”.
And this sentiment isn’t unique to Inami.
In the Iwase district of Toyama City, one man refused to let his children inherit a struggling business in a declining area. As the fifth-generation owner of Masuda Sake Brewery, Ryuichiro Masuda took action – purchasing abandoned buildings and inviting top chefs to open restaurants in them. The result? Kaiseki, sushi, soba noodles, open-fire cooking, French, and Italian restaurants now all inhabit the once empty spaces. All are Michelin listed, and all serve his sake.
“One man has completely regenerated a whole community”, says Kylie Clark, the UK representative for the Toyama prefecture. “In this way, people across Toyama aren’t merely preserving tradition – they’re actively shaping the future.”
“Tourism isn’t our aim, but our means”
What sets Toyama apart is the ingenuity of its regeneration. While driven by locals, tourism is a necessary catalyst for sustainable change.
“Tourism isn’t our aim, but our means”, says Sari Hayashiguchi. “It’s almost impossible to revitalise the region with just the local residents. We would like visitors to participate and join us to preserve it.”
As Hayashiguchi explains, it’s the link between nature, community and visitors, that is at the heart, or root, of this:
“One of the most distinctive things about Toyama is the symbiotic relationship between nature and people. We call this dotoku. Even after modernisation, people are grateful for blessings from nature. Buddhism is still popular here. Tourists can feel that atmosphere – even if they don’t know exactly what it is.”
And that’s just it – you may not be able to put your finger on exactly what makes Toyama so special, but that’s because there’s so much at work: nature, community, creativity, and welcomed tourism.
Regeneration is embedded into Toyama’s DNA. From a 300-year-old wood carved temple rising from the ashes to Zombie beer made from abandoned garden fruit, Toyama’s ingenuity and tradition is the recipe for its success – and the reason why you should weave it into your next trip to Japan.
Go to Tokyo, visit Kyoto, but also, come to the place where the Japan Alps meets the Sea of Japan. See (and hear) woodcarving masters at work. Taste beer that comes from forgotten fruit. Eat Michelin meals cooked in once-abandoned akiya houses, happy in the knowledge that your visit is actively contributing to its survival.
For more on travel in Toyama visit visit-toyama-japan.com.