Iwase岩瀬

The Toyama Port Line (富山港線, also called the Toyama Light Rail) runs from Toyama Station to the old port. It takes 21 minutes to Higashi-Iwase and costs ¥240 (¥220 with an IC card) on 14 October 2026; the line ends at Iwasehama. Get off at Higashi-Iwase for the street and Saseki (about 10 min on foot), or at Keirinjo-mae for Cave Yunoki (5 min) and GEJO (476 m). The line belongs to Toyama Chitetsu, so the JR Pass does not cover it.

Iwase was one of the ports of the Kitamae-bune merchant ships: rice and sake went north from here, and kelp and herring came back. A great fire in the early Meiji period burnt the town, and the shipping agents’ street that was rebuilt came through the Second World War. Today the old wooden houses hold workshops, bars and restaurants, and the retro banks are worth a look too.

Walk it slowly. The long, narrow plots, deep eaves and storehouses behind the street are the point, and it takes 20 to 30 minutes with no stops.

The largest shipowner’s house in Iwase, from one of the five leading families. A 30 m earthen corridor (tōri-niwa) runs through it, and a room holds 33 tatami. Entry is ¥100 for adults (¥90 for groups), free for high school students and younger, cash only. It is closed over New Year.

A craft brewery, KOBO Brew Pub, opened in 2020 in the family’s old granary, with ten rotating taps and a sake-lees beer. It is the easy daytime stop on the street.

A nationally designated Important Cultural Property, built around 1878 as a shipping agent’s house. It is closed for seismic reinforcement after the 2024 Noto Peninsula earthquake, and the city plans to reopen it sometime after fiscal year 2027. Admission when open was ¥100, 9:00–17:00. The photograph shows its main house.

Its storehouses are in use: Cave Yunoki and the Taizo Glass Studio are both in the Mori storehouse row.

Masuda Shuzō (桝田酒造店, founded 1893) brews Masuizumi. The brewery is a working one, so the place for visitors is its standing bar and shop, Saseki (沙石), opened in 2019, which pours about 100 kinds. It is open 10:00–17:00, closed Tuesdays. You pay ¥200–500 a glass, or ¥1,000 for 15 minutes or ¥2,000 for 30 minutes of all you can drink, once a day (prices from a July 2024 report, updated January 2025). Snacks are ¥300.

The brewery’s own counter keeps weekday hours and is closed at weekends, and brewery visits are by reservation, so use Saseki unless you have booked.

Taizo Yasuda founded his glass studio in 1997 and moved it in 2005 into a corner of the Mori family storehouses. He makes handblown, multicoloured pieces in the Venetian manner. I could not confirm the studio’s opening days, so ring ahead or check its social media before you walk over. For a bigger look at glass, the Toyama Glass Art Museum is in the city.

The best way in is by water. The Fugan Suijo Line boat runs from Kansui Park to Iwase through the 1934 Nakajima Lock, which lifts the boat about 2.5 m. The Kansui Park to Iwase Canal Hall course is ¥2,500 one way and includes a one-way tram ticket, so you take the tram back. Children in elementary school pay half. The 2026 season runs to 23 November on one listing; reserve on the operator’s site, which also publishes the timetable.