Toyama

Toyama is a city in Japan found in the Toyama Prefecture. Based on its development the city has been officially known as the capital of the Toyama Prefecture with a large population of approximately 420,804 people. This census was performed in 2005 although many recent statements suggest the city has grown significantly due to development and expansion. Today, the total estimated area of Toyama is 1,241km.

The primary industry of Toyama has been medicine with a vast amount of life changing medical developments actually founded in the many centers of the city. While many understand the greatness of this industry the city has begun development of other industries such as technology and natural preservation. Toyama is a leading city in raising awareness of harmful environment practices that are essentially ruining our earth.

The last ten years have been dedicated to increasing the popularity of the city and attracting the attention of tourists. Tourism has played a large role in the economy of Japan as a whole and Toyama is working to make something of the cities name. At this time there have been many tremendous efforts to catch the eye of the public and tourism numbers in the city are on the rise.

History of Toyama

Toyama is the site of many battles over territory and authority during the feudal periods. It is recorded that many significant fights leading to the present day founding’s were fought on the cities soil.

Eventually the fights were ceased and Sassa Narimasa came into control of the city, then known as Etchuu. It was this ruler that provided the city with an organized plan creating a stronger agriculture development. Agriculture and harvesting became the number one industry of Toyama at this time.

It wasn’t until the Edo Period that the city began its journey into the medicine industry. Once the field was recognized the entire country began to regard Toyama as the city of medicine.

During World War II the city of Toyama played an important role as it had a great amount of water supply to assist in taming fires from air raids. The city, although devastated itself, worked with surrounding areas to eliminate the fires and repair damages.

Points of Interest

• Toyama Castle The Toyama Castle was completely repaired to its original state shortly after WWII. Today, there is a beautifully landscaped park surrounding the castle which now holds many prized artifacts representing the history of Toyama. There are also several other museums in the area.

External Links

• Official Site (Japanese)
• Official Site (English)