The History and Culture of Toyama from a Cultural Heritage Perspective

In this section, we delve into the unique history and culture of Toyama Prefecture through its cultural and natural heritage sites, including cultural properties designated by the prefecture or by the national government.

The Dawn of Toyama(Paleolithic Period through End of Kofun Period (ca. 538 CE))

The first inhabitants of what is now Japan arrived approximately 40,000 years ago, in pursuit of large mammals like Palaeoloxodon naumanni, or Naumann’s elephant.
Remains from the Late Pleistocene dating to 38,000 years ago have been found in Toyama, with tools made of obsidian from Aomori Prefecture having been excavated at the Tatsumi Site (dating to 15,000 years ago) in Nanto City.

Some 10,000 years ago, the climate grew warmer, and a number of unique villages developed during the Jomon Period (10,000–300 BCE).
The people of these villages lived on the abundant local resources from both land and sea.
The Fudodo Site (in Asahi Town) was once a village consisting of pit dwellings that are among the largest of this type found anywhere in Japan, while large quantities of decorative jade items were once made at what is now the Sakai A Site (in Asahi Town) and taken to places throughout the country.

During the Yayoi Period (300 BCE to 300 CE), rice cultivation first arrived in Japan, and power began to concentrate around village leaders, this led to new shifts and disparities in the social hierarchy.
During the later years of the period, as tensions of the upcoming Civil War of Wa loomed, defensive fortifications were built in villages in Toyama, and these villages sought to forge diplomatic ties with other regions.
Towards the end of this period as well, square tombs surrounded by ditches were built, and in the final years, a unique form of burial site, the Yosumi Tosshutsugata Tumulus (a raised square burial site with four projected corners), was built at what is now the Ozuka-Senboyama Site Group (in Toyama City), which suggests that the region had active interactions with the San’in region to the southwest, along the Sea of Japan coastline.

During the Kofun Period (250–538 CE), Toyama fell under the Yamato royal authority, which developed in the Kinai region (or the Five Capital Provinces), with burial mounds being built throughout the area in the Yamato style.
During the early Kofun Period, the Yanaida Nuno Oyama Tumulus, a keyhole-shaped burial mound with a squared-off rear portion that is one of the largest of its kind found along the Sea of Japan coastline, was built in what is now Himi City, as were other large keyhole-shaped mounds.
During the mid Kofun Period, round tumuli such as the Chigozuka Mound (in Tateyama Town) emerged, and tunnel tombs such as the Jogahira Cave Tunnel (in Takaoka City) were built through the Asuka Period (550–710 CE).

The World of Otomo no Yakamochi, a Man'yo Poet(Asuka Period (550–710 CE) through Heian Period (794–1185 CE))

During the Asuka Period (550–710 CE), provincial governors were dispatched to the provinces for a Tang-dynasty-style system of centralized governance under the emperor, known as ritsuryo.
In the Nara Period (710–794 CE), Otomo no Yakamochi was appointed as the director of the provincial governors, and assigned to Etchu Province.
In those days, Etchu was a large domain that encompassed Noto Province, and Yakamochi would compose poems throughout the region, alongside his administrative duties.
The Man’yoshu, Japan's oldest existing collection of waka poetry, contains 337 poems relating to Etchu, or what is today Toyama Prefecture, with 223 of them by Yakamochi himself.
As a result, the prefecture is dotted with places that inspired Etchu Man'yo poems.
"I view the snow on Tateyama in summer, and never tire of the sight; surely, it is because it is a sacred mountain" — Yakamochi’s poetry draws upon Tateyama as a theme.
In those days, the mountain was considered to look up to the heavens within Shinto beliefs, but over time it gradually came to be associated with Buddhism during the Heian Period (794–1185 CE), where it was used for esoteric rituals and syncretic training that combined Shinto and Buddhism, with concepts like Hell and belief in a "Pure Land".
Today, there are many sites and remains throughout the Tateyama area that still have deep ties to religious faith.

At the same time, government-run pottery and ironmaking works were being established in the Imizu Hills area from the Asuka Period (550–710 CE) through the Heian Period (794–1185 CE).
In particular, the Kosugi Maruyama Ruins (in Imizu City) contain the remains of a kiln that once produced tiles and Sue Ware dating to the late 7th century.
The tiles were discovered in temple ruins near where the provincial office is believed to have been located, about 17 km away from the kiln site, in the Fushiki area of Takaoka City.
An imperial edict in 743 establishing the privatization of cultivated land and permanent inheritance by birthright triggered a shift during the Nara Period (710–794 CE) and Heian Period (794–1185 CE) where the manors of influential temples were built in the plains of the area.
The Jobenoma Ruins (in Nyuzen Town) are the remains of a government office that once managed these manors, which were built on reclaimed land that had previously been virgin forests and wasteland (similar to the rocky terrain where sawa cedar grows in present-day Sugisawa, in Nyuzen Town).

The Samurai Era(Kamakura Period (1185–1333 CE) through Azuchi-Momoyama Period (1558–1600 CE))

Toward the end of the Heian Period (794–1185 CE), the samurai class emerged, and when the Genpei War broke out, local lords and samurai followed Minamoto no Yoshinaka, who led them to victory at the Battle of Kurikara and marched on Kyoto.
After the elimination of the Taira clan, a government office was installed in Hojozu (in Imizu City) during the Kamakura Period (1185–1333 CE).
This was a key point of transportation due to the lagoon that stretched across Etchu.
During the Muromachi Period (1333–1573 CE), the Yusa, Jinbo, and Shiina clans presided over Etchu in place of the governor, who resided in Kyoto at the time.
Following the erection of Yoshizaki Gobo Temple (in Fukui Prefecture) in 1471, Pure Land Buddhism entered the Hokuriku region in earnest.
In the late Muromachi Period, the Ikko-Ikki Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Uprising in the Kaga Domain led to Zuisen-ji Temple and Zentoku-ji Temple (in Nanto City) becoming independent temples, and Doyama Temple (later Shoko-ji Temple) and other temples in the Ikko-Ikki Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Uprising in Etchu gained prominence.

With the Ikko-Ikki Jodo Shinshu Buddhist Uprising and the intervention of the Nagao clan (who would later become the Uesugi clan) as acting shugo governors, Etchu failed to produce a single daimyo lord to rule over it during the Warring States Period.
Uesugi Kenshin defeated the rebelling lords and samurai, as well as the Buddhist uprising, and gained control of Etchu in 1576.
However, following Kenshin’s sudden death in 1578, Oda Nobunaga attacked Etchu as part of his campaign to unify Japan under his control, and his vassal Sassa Narimasa subjugated the province in 1583.
Following the Honno-ji Incident, Toyotomi Hideyoshi (known at the time as Hashiba Hideyoshi) succeeded Nobunaga.
In the Hokuriku region, there was continued feuding between Narimasa (who opposed Hideyoshi) and Maeda Toshiie (who supported Hideyoshi), but Narimasa eventually capitulated in 1585, when Hideyoshi advanced on Etchu. Narimasa was transferred to Higo Province (in modern-day Kumamoto Prefecture), and the Maeda clan ruled over the Kaga, Etchu, and Noto provinces, enough land to produce a total of 1,200,000 koku of rice (one koku was a unit of measurement equal to about 180 liters, or roughly enough rice to feed a person for a year).
This marked the origin of the Kaga Domain, and the famous“million koku of Kaga.”

The Origins of the Historic City of Takaoka-The Brothers Toshinaga and Toshitsune-
(Edo Period (1603–1868 CE))

Following the deaths of Hideyoshi and Toshiie, Tokugawa Ieyasu won the Battle of Sekigahara (1600) and cemented his status as the ruler of Japan.
In 1605, Maeda Toshinaga passed down his position as head of the clan to his brother Toshitsune, and built Takaoka Castle in 1609 as a place to live out his retirement, in lieu of Toyama Castle, which had been destroyed in a fire.
Soon enough, a town grew around Takaoka Castle.
However, after Toshinaga died in 1614 and Takaoka Castle was decommissioned for use as a castle under the "one domain, one castle" policy, the castle town began to lose its vitality.
Having noticed the castle town declining, Toshitsune adopted a reconstruction policy to transform Takaoka into a town of commerce and industry, and built Zuiryu-ji Temple and a gravesite to mourn for Toshinaga.
He laid foundations for the historic city of Takaoka that can still be seen even today.

The Blossoming Culture of Edo-Period Etchu

Tateyama Faith

During the Edo Period (1603–1868 CE), faith in the sacred mountain Tateyama spread among the populace.
The priests of Iwakura-ji Temple and Ashikura-ji Temple worked nationwide to discuss and disseminate the meaning of the Tateyama Mandala, encouraging people to climb Tateyama in pilgrimage, or to take part in a sacred bridge-crossing ritual.
As a result, people came from throughout Japan to Tateyama during the late Edo Period, bringing great liveliness to the area.

The Medicine Industry of Toyama

The Toyama Domain split off from the Kaga Domain in 1639, but struggled with financial difficulties from the start.
Maeda Masatoshi, the second lord of the domain, encouraged the sale of medicines as a way to promote local industry, and Toyama developed a unique method of selling medicines: medicines would be delivered to customers, who would keep them at home, and pay later only for what they used.
As a result, medicine sales grew to become a key industry for the domain, serving as a significant source of revenues.
This method is still in use today, and vestiges of its history can be seen in medicine sellers' homes like the Former Kanaoka Residence (in Toyama City) and the specialized tools that were once used there.

The Kitamae-bune Trading Ships

In the second half of the 17th century, the Nishimawari Shipping Route on the Sea of Japan was developed to provide safer transport of greater quantities of goods.
The Kitamae-bune trading ships contributed to the growth of the local commodity economy, and flourished from the mid 18th century to the late 19th century.
Buildings once owned by these shipping agencies, like the former Mori residence (in Toyama City) provide a glimpse into times gone by.

The Modernization of Toyama Prefecture-Meiji-Period Flood Control, Taisho-Period Power Generation, and Showa-Period Urban Planning-

Toyama Prefecture was split off of Ishikawa Prefecture in 1883, primarily due to internal conflict: Toyama wanted to prioritize flood control, while Ishikawa wanted to focus on road improvements.
Toyama Prefecture went on to actively engage in river renovation and erosion control efforts, with public engineering costs occasionally accounting for over 80% of the prefecture’s annual budget.
In the early 20th century, efforts began to launch hydroelectric power projects throughout Toyama, taking advantage of the prefecture’s rivers.