#1 From World Class Glass Art to Classic Japanese Cuisine

Toyama is the preeminent glass art city in Japan and no visit is complete without visiting the world class Toyama Glass Art Museum on the Centram Light Rail line. Designed by the celebrated Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the shimmering exterior opens into a cathedral like interior of native Toyama cedar planks arching up six stories to the stunning, permanent Dale Chihuly installation occupying the entire top floor.

The Museum is now receiving more than 250,000 visitors annually, has held exhibitions by outstanding glass artists like Art Nouveau glass master Émile Gallé and the Murano Maestro Lino Tagliapietra, and collaborates with international institutions like the Corning Museum of Glass in New York, the Glassmuseet Ebeltoft in Denmark and the Suntory Museum of Art in Tokyo. The Museum Director, Ruriko Tsuchida, came here from the prestigious Suntory Museum of Art. My favorite section of the Chihuly installation is an original wood, flat-bottomed, local trout fishing boat, of the type that used to ply goods along the local rivers, now “transporting” a surreal profusion of 117 dazzling Chihuly glass spheres.

From behind the Museum, you can walk three blocks to Hie Shrine (est.1335) which receives more than 200,000 visitors for the Sanno Festival (June 1-2). At the large, red and black central hall (Honden) you can ring the rope bell to “summon” the Kami (gods).

Across the street from the Museum is Grand Plaza, bordering Daiwa Department Store. My favorite restaurant here is the third-generation Shin Tonkatsu on the ground floor, across the Plaza from Starbucks. Shin Tonkatsu (“New Pork Cutlet”) lets you step back in time and enjoy the craftsmanship of classic Japanese cuisine. The indirect lighting illuminating the massive dark beams of the 100-year-old high cedar ceiling and native zelkova wood pillars - relocated from a house in the famous mountain village of Yatsuo - the well-spaced oak plank tables, and the open kitchen of this intimate restaurant, is a restful refuge from the frantic modern world of plastic and fast food. The 3rd generation chef, Takashi Murota, started cooking when he was in elementary school, growing up watching his grandfather and father working as chefs.

The carefully crafted specialties are deep fried savory pork loin or pork fillet, or jumbo prawns or potato croquettes with beef, carrots and butter, served with hand cut, local sweet cabbage, traditional katsudon (tonkatsu and egg over rice), and traditional Japanese curry. Every morning the butcher brings prime cuts of local Toyama pork for the chef to select the best, and the pork, prawns and croquettes are then encased in crisp panko that has been fried in a light, airy blend crafted of four selected oils. Oishi! There is an English menu. My wife’s family has been coming to this restaurant for many years and when I recommended it to the American Chihuly staff during the installation of the Glass Art Museum exhibits across the street they loved it.