Toyama Prefecture


Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 1,044,588 and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km². Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture to the south, Nagano Prefecture to the east, and Niigata Prefecture to the northeast.
Toyama is the capital and largest city of Toyama Prefecture, with other major cities including Takaoka, Imizu, and Nanto. Toyama Prefecture is part of the historic Hokuriku region, and the majority of prefecture's population lives on Toyama Bay, one of the largest bays in Japan. Toyama Prefecture is the leading industrial prefecture on the Japan Sea coast and has the advantage of cheap electricity from abundant hydroelectric resources. Toyama Prefecture contains the only known glaciers in East Asia outside of Russia, first recognized in 2012, and 30% of the prefecture's area is designated as national parks.

History

Historically, Toyama Prefecture was Etchū Province. Following the abolition of the han system in 1871, Etchū Province was renamed Niikawa Prefecture, but Imizu District was given to Nanao Prefecture. In 1872 Imizu District was returned by the new Ishikawa Prefecture.
In 1876, Niikawa Prefecture was merged into Ishikawa Prefecture but the merger was void in 1881 and the area was re-established as Toyama Prefecture.
The Itai-itai disease occurred in Toyama around 1950.

Geography

Toyama Prefecture is bordered by Ishikawa Prefecture to the west, Niigata to the northeast, Nagano to the southeast, Gifu to the south and Sea of Japan to the north.
As of April 1, 2012, 30% of the total land area of the prefecture was designated as Natural Parks, namely the Chūbu-Sangaku and Hakusan National Parks; Noto Hantō Quasi-National Park; and six Prefectural Natural Parks.

Municipalities

Due to the mergers in the 2000s, Toyama has the fewest municipalities of any prefecture in Japan with 10 cities, 2 districts, 4 towns, and 1 village.

Cities

Ten cities are located in Toyama Prefecture:
These are the towns and villages in each district:

List of governors of Toyama Prefecture (from 1947)

This is a list of governors of Toyama with their titles.

Agriculture

In 2014 Toyama contributed approximately 2.5% of Japan's rice production and
makes use of abundant water sources originating from Mount Tate. It also has many fisheries along its Sea of Japan coastline.

Manufacturing

Toyama is famous for its historical pharmaceutical industry which remains a top manufacturing industry in the prefecture in terms of manufacturing shipment value followed by electronic parts and devices, and metal products manufacturing.

Energy

generates electricity for the Kansai Electric Power Company. It is located on the Kurobe River in Toyama Prefecture.

Demographics

Per Japanese census data, and, Toyama has had gradual population increase after 1950 and gradual population decline at 1960-1970 and 21st century

Transportation

Rail

Tokyo: 2 hr 7 min via Hokuriku Shinkansen
Osaka: 3 hr via Hokuriku Shinkansen and Thunderbird Limited Express

UNESCO World Heritage Cultural Sites

National Treasures of Japan

Festivals

Spring

The sports teams listed below are based in Toyama.
Football
Basketball
Baseball
Rugby Union