Imizu, located in western Toyama Prefecture, is a coastal city with a lot of water and even more personality. This personality derives itself in equal measure from the city’s intimate relationship with the sea and from the abundance of retro architecture lining its streets. I found myself utterly smitten with the city, eager to know and experience all it had to offer, and Imizu responded in kind, revealing more and more of its charm around every turn. What I found was a city eager to attract new business and new travelers, while maintaining its traditional way of life. For those traveling in the Hokuriku region, Imizu comes highly recommended.
The heart of Imizu lies in its Shinminato-Uchikawa area. Developed tightly around the canal that snakes through it, the area is often compared to Venice. Unlike Venice though, the area isn’t yet crawling with travelers nor is it packed to the gills with shops and restaurants. It’s primarily home to snugly constructed rows of homes, local shops, warehouses, and banya fisherman huts. Many of these buildings remain as they were a century ago, some covered with splintering wood planks and others with rusted sheet metal. The soft, natural hues of these old and new buildings harmonize beautifully with the blue-green waters that run between them. This sight is further complemented by the whites and blues of the fishing boats that lay quietly tethered along the river in rows that slip from sight beyond the bend of the canal. Taking all of this in, one is struck by a strange combination of solitude and the diligent, enduring hum of activity.
Imizu thrived upon the trade that its port and the bountiful waters around it afforded. In the Edo and Meiji Periods, much cargo moved through Toyama Bay on the Kitamaebune shipping route, stimulating the region’s growth. The fishing boats, warehouses, and banya that line the waterfront serve as quiet reminders of this growth.
However, Imizu is by no means mired in its past. One banya has been repurposed into a modern style cafe, dubbed Banya Cafe, that serves local delicacies, such as the jewel-like shiraebi shrimp. The cafe allows customers to gaze out at the canal while enjoying their coffee or meal. While some might turn their noses up at the idea of constructing a cafe inside a historically valuable building, the idea is actually quite clever. Banya are traditionally used as places of rest for fishermen between their trips out to sea, and thus, resting at the Banya Cafe allows visitors to put themselves in the shoes of the fishermen who once frequented the building. This unique blend of tradition and modern culture speaks of the city’s efforts to stimulate its local economy with new ideas, while taking care not to muddy its identity.
I participated in a walking tour of the area that allowed me to really drink in this identity. Most striking for me was the lack of guard rails along the canal, a difference from similar towns in Japan that suggests a certain intimacy between the residents and the water they rely on. I was likewise surprised by the number of jizo statues placed along the canal. These are representations of Jizo Bosatsu, a guardian deity of sorts. For a city that has historically supported itself with dangerous journeys out to sea, it’s no wonder that they would pray to jizo for safety and bountiful hauls. Approximately 150 of them are placed throughout the Shinminato-Uchikawa area, serving as yet another distinct characteristic of the area.
Another unique quality of the area are its bridges, just as important, just as full of life and personality as the water that runs beneath them. The walking tour took me to a number of these bridges, each with its own story and charm. One of them, Kagura Bridge, features stained glass-lined guard rails. The bridge is also famous among locals for its appearance in the 2012 film Anata e, starring the late Takakura Ken.
The Sanno Bridge is famous for the four marble sculptures that decorate it, works of Mitsuyuki Takeda, an award-winning sculptor born in Imizu. Each sculpture depicts a hand in a different position, with a corresponding kanji character attached. One is dubbed 心 kokoro, meaning heart or soul, and depicts a fist resolutely planted upon its pedestal. One depicts a hand softly caressing a flower, dubbed 人 hito, meaning person. Another features two hands joined together, named 愛 ai love, and yet another features a hand with its index finger pointed towards the sky, 夢 yume dream.
Another standout is Azuma Bridge, a large red covered bridge, which offers as sweeping a view of the area as one can get in quiet Imizu. What a view this was for me. The sky, throbbing with gray storm clouds, was perfectly reflected on the surface of the river. As if reigning in these dual skies, the lines of homes and businesses with their uniform black roofs stretched on quietly before me, not a single building over four stories in sight.
As the walking tour entered the neighborhood that fans out from the Uchikawa area, my attention was again drawn to Imizu’s architecture, with some buildings boasting a history that stretches back to the early Showa Period (1926-1989). Some feature traditional koshi-do lattice doors, contributing greatly to the retro character of the area.
One such architectural highlight of the area is cafe uchikawa Rokkakudo, located near Azuma Bridge. Its name literally means “Hall of Six Corners” or “Hexagonal Hall,” in reference to the unique shape of the building. This strange building, once used as a tatami shop, went without an owner for nearly 5 years, steadily falling into disrepair before being discovered by the current cafe owners. Seeing the building as an opportunity to preserve both the city’s retro atmosphere and a historically-significant piece of architecture, the owners moved ahead with renovations and opened the cafe in 2019. The cafe’s menu features the sort of fare you’d see at a typical kissaten cafe. For food options, they offer a varied selection of sandwiches, curries, salads, and sweets. For drinks, they serve all manner of coffees and teas, in addition to alcoholic beverages in the evenings. The cafe also prides itself on its use of organic, locally sourced products. Like with Banya Cafe, cafe uchikawa Rokkakudo highlights the efforts of residents to balance economic growth with local identity.
We also stopped off at Hojozu Hachimangu Shrine, located deeper in the neighborhood. The shrine grounds are spacious, dotted here and there by tall pines and adorned by the sort of statues you might expect from a Hachiman shrine anywhere else in the country.
What sets Hojozu Hachimangu apart from other shrines I’ve visited, however, are the signs of community on display. Drawings from local students decorate the shrine’s stairs. A complex mathematical problem thought up by a university professor hangs beneath the eaves, beckoning sharp-witted viewers to try and solve it. A large sign celebrates the national designation of the Hojozu Hachimangu Hikiyama and Tsukiyama Events–a set of traditional events featuring colorful floats conducted at the shrine in early October–as a single Intangible Folk-Cultural Property in 2021. Just like the river, the shrine grounds were quiet, sleepy even, but spoke endlessly of the community’s history and culture.
As night fell, I boarded a night cruise, which took me down the Uchikawa River, past its silent buildings, beneath its many bridges, and out into Toyama Bay. Imizu’s stretch of Toyama Bay is a feast for the eyes. It’s no surprise then that, in 2014, Toyama Bay joined the World’s Most Beautiful Bays Club, a UNESCO-backed NGO.
The star of the show here is the Shinminato Ohashi Bridge, the largest cable-stayed bridge on the Japan Sea coast. On a clear day, the bridge’s tall white arches are framed by a long, rolling line of mountains in the distance, creating an image that’s almost overwhelming in scale. At night however, the bridge is lit up with LED lights that cast its reflection upon the dark sea–a hauntingly beautiful sight.
When my night cruise took me beneath the bridge, I was really taken by the height of the thing, which stands some 50 odd meters above the sea. Thanks to this height, the bridge offers a commanding view of Imizu’s port and Toyama Bay, from the enclosed pedestrian path beneath its automobile lanes.
Another popular attraction here is the Kaiwo Maru, a retired barque–or in layman’s terms, a very big sailship–built in 1930. The ship had a long and storied career before her retirement. She was used as a training ship for the Merchant Marine, before being repurposed into a motorship for maritime training and transporting coal during the Second World War. After the war, she was used to bring around 27,000 Japanese troops back home. She later resumed use as a training ship, until retiring in 1989. Beyond its historical value, the ship is an effective visual complement to the Shinminato Ohashi Bridge, with its white paint job and impressive 97 meter length.
The area that houses the ship, Kaiwo Maru Park, regularly hosts events, including one held about 10 times each year, where the great sails of the Kaiwo Maru are opened for guests to see. Entrance to the park is free, but entrance to the Kaiwo Maru itself will run you 400 yen.
It goes without saying–whether traveling on land or sea, Imizu has a lot to love. My Imizu trip didn’t end there though. I was also treated to a captivating Shishimai lion dance conducted by a local organization, an experience thrilling enough to warrant its own feature. Check it out!
Detailed information for access to Imizu by train, plane, bus, and car are available on the city’s official website!
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<Content & Images>
All images not owned by WaWo Japan Travel were obtained from the following sources:
★ Imizu Tourism Association
★ Toyama Kanko Nabi
[https://www.info-toyama.com/]
★Mitsuyuki Takeda
[https://takeda.noor.jp/profile/#ja_la]
★Kappou Matsuyama
For specific credits, please hover over each image.
<Author>
Joseph Bayliss
Travel Consultant at WaWo Japan Travel
