Тояма

The characters for Toyama Prefecture (富山県, Toyama-ken) mean “abundant in mountains,” and just as its name suggests, its many 3,000-meter mountains offer challenging hikes for outdoor enthusiasts.

Though lesser known than the nearby Shirakawa-go, the Gokayama district is famous for its similar gassho-zukuri style houses and is a World Heritage Site as well. The Tateyama Kurobe Alpine Route is a scenic drive in the warmer seasons but is surrounded by walls of snow (often higher than 10 meters tall) in the winter.

The powerful Kurobe Dam in Kurobe Gorge is the largest dam in Japan, while Zuiryu-ji is the prefecture’s only national treasure. Dishes of buri, or yellowtail, is the prefecture’s speciality cuisine.