#2 From Samurais to Sophisticated Sushi

Historic Toyama Castle (est. 1543) was a key fortified position, indicated by the three massive boulders from the original fortifications you find just across the castle bridge. Backed up against the Jinzu (Path of the Gods) River, it took an army of 100,00 Samari under Hideyoshi Toyotomi to conquer the Castle in 1585. The castle tower offers good views of the city and mountains. On the east side the heavy Edo Period Chiyoda Gate is a popular spot for photographs and at the Tourist Information Center you can sign up to experience wearing samurai armor or a Kimono, or ride a horse dressed as a samurai.

In the north-east corner of Castle Park is a tranquil Japanese garden in front of the Sato Memorial Art Museum. The Museum has an impressive tea ceremony collection with relocated 19th century tea rooms. At the front desk you can get a ticket for the Tea Ceremony room where you can enjoy traditional matcha and Japanese sweets. Exiting the castle walls to the right of the Sato Museum, at the canal side to the left are boat rides on the Matsukawa (Pine River).

Diagonally across from the Matsukawa River Cruises is City Hall where the free, 70-meter-high observation tower provides a magnificent 360-degree view of Jinzu River flowing to Toyama Bay in the north, the Kureha Hills where Hideyoshi Toyotomi’s huge army encamped in 1585 to the west, and to the southeast the Northern Japan Alps crowned with sacred Mt. Tateyama.

My favorite restaurant in the Castle area is Mino Sushi, located diagonally across from the south west corner of the Park’s “Amazing Toyama” sign which frames the Castle for photographs. When I was Toyama’s Chief Resilience Officer, Mayor Mori and I would often bring visitors from the World Bank, or the Rockefeller Foundation, or OECD or the Economist to this award-winning restaurant (Michelin Bib Gourmand and Plate Awards, Gault&Millau 2 Toques Award.)

Mino Sushi is dedicated to the elegant Edomae-style (Edo 1603-1868) nigiri sushi (“hand pressed, two finger”) technique. Inside one finds an open, almost minimalist setting combining soft wallpaper tones with beautiful local cedar paneling, ambient light, soft jazz piano music, a long, elegant spruce counter fronting the beautiful display of fresh seafood, and two private rooms. This is a place to take your time, relax, and savor premium sushi paired with premium Toyama sakes which you can drink from Toyama glass art.

You will be attended by second generation Chef Hiroki Mishima, who learned from his father in the original Tokyo Mino Sushi and has been a Edomae sushi chef for 32 years, and Assistant Chef Shunji Wada who started at 19 and has been preparing sushi for 26 years at Mino Sushi. The focus is on the highly sought-after seafood of the rich 1200-meter-deep Toyama Bay which supports an incredible 500 species of fish and shellfish. In Chef Mishima’s words:

”Local production for local consumption is an ideal approach to create meals.
I use fish, rice, and sake nurtured by the land and water of Hokuriku, carefully
selecting ingredients that best suit the local climate and environment.”

You can savor the rare Japanese glass shrimp (shiro-ebi), firefly squid (hotaruika), and Japanese ivory shellfish (baigai), or one of my favorites the exquisite black throated perch (nodoguro), as well as fatty yellowtail and red queen crab in the winter, or the exacting Edo-mae technique for the prized Japanese gizzard shad (Kohada), or konbu (kelp) marinated John Dory (Matoudai). You can eat a sushi set or, my preference, just tell the chef you want his recommendations.