On a bigger scale, the homeware brand Nousaku Chiharu Nousaku, the fifth-generation CEO of the company, was responsible for this innovation. Its contemporary foundry—which also continues to cast bronze artifacts for Buddhist rituals—is open for public tours and hands-on casting workshops. There is also a café and shop beside a striking lobby installation that doubles as a library of in-use casting molds.
In the town of Inami, Nanto is home to some of Japan’s best wood carving. Japan’s mingei movement—which emerged in the 1920s, championing the folk crafts of anonymous artisans—is also deeply connected with the area, in particular Zentokuji. This 500-year-old Pure Land Buddhist temple is where mingei philosopher and leader Yanagi Sōetsu wrote an important essay on mingei, and it is possible to visit the tatami room he stayed in. The complex welcomes visitors, who can learn how to make a Buddhist nenju (rosary)—using beads from an ancient cedar cut down in the grounds—or use the serene coworking space. Accommodation is available in the renovated former Dojo designed by architect and mingei carpenter Yasukawa.
What to Buy in Toyama
Tin Kago basket: The most popular product of the Nousaku Tin Foundry is a beautiful, practical and pliable tin basket which can be bent to transform it.
Patinated Copper Jewelry The shop next to the workshop of Momentum Factory Orii, which is a master of Takaoka’s copperware, sells jewelry that uses its coloration techniques. Former first lady Jill Biden received similar items in 2024 during the Japan-US Summit.
Mother-of pearl inlay glassware Takeshi Musashigawa has created contemporary raden designs on glass, including covetable sake cups. Musashigawa, who is known for his lacquerware designs, has also created raden patterns on glass. These include sake cups that are highly sought after.
Sake KitKats This candy bar, which is available in Japan with a variety of flavors, including matcha, wasabi and sweet potato, has been developed in collaboration with Masuizumi Sake from Kyoto. Masuda Iwase brewery
Where to Eat
A two-Michelin-starred auberge in the mountains, where chef-patron Eiji Taniguchi utilizes hyperlocal ingredients—including those from his own farm or foraged in the surrounding forest—in his French-Japanese menu.
Chef Hironori Fuji’s restaurant in Iwase with a two-Michelin star menu features the seasonal highlight of bioluminescent Firefly Squid, and Toyama Bay glass Shrimp.
Tatsuo ryoke, who runs an omakase restaurant in Takaoka, serves sushi on a variety of beautiful dishes, including Suze-ware bowls, ceramics, tinplates, and Edo antiques.I repairs.
This rustic café-restaurant in the scattered villages is run by Hirotaka and Shiho Akita who serve seasonal vegetables and foraged sansai (mountain vegetables) alongside their homegrown rice.
Close to Toyama station, this bar serves food but the main event is the sake, with tipples available from all 19 of Toyama’s breweries, including IWA, created by Richard Geoffroy, formerly of Dom Pérignon. Retail sales are also available.
Where to Stay
The three-room inn is located in an azumadachi farmhouse that dates back 120 years. It’s furnished with modern and mingei jewels. Two percent of all room fees are donated to the local kainyo. Rei Naito’s sculpture, which is known for its works on the art island Naoshima and Teshima has been recently installed in the garden.
Yotsukawa Seisakusho is a copper maker that has transformed two adjacent historical shophouses, in Kanaya machi, into high-end rental properties. The renovated buildings combine period details with contemporary features. (One even contains a WW2-era bomb shelter.) Tatami rooms can accommodate four or eight people, respectively. Niche displays the company’s bronze castings.
Six villas in Inami have been renovated by wood carvers, artisans and other master craftspeople. Each is an original work of arts. Overnight guests are invited to participate in an overnight experience. wood-carving print-making workshop One of the few women wood artisans.
Zentokoji, a temple in Johana that was once the home of the dojo This six-bedroom lodge is a perfect place for monks to stay and enjoy a good night’s rest before the early morning sutra chanting at 6:30 am.
