Toyama (富山市, Toyama-shi, Japanese: [toꜜjama]) is the capital city of Toyama Prefecture, Japan, located on the coast of the Sea of Japan in the Chūbu region on central Honshū, about 200 km (120 mi) north of the city of Nagoya and 300 km (190 mi) northwest of Tokyo.
[3] The nearest towns are Imizu (west), and Namerikawa (east), both by the sea and part of the Toyama urban area.
The Toyama Plain is good farmland and historically it was a point of strategic and traffic importance since prehistoric times.
The area subsequently became part of Kaga Domain under the Maeda clan during the Edo period, during which time a positive industrial promotion policy was implemented on the production of Chinese medicine and washi (Japanese paper).
Also, thanks to the improvement of kitamaebune sea transportation routes, these industries thrived and Toyama became known nationwide as the province of medicine.
Toyama has become one of the most influential cities on the Sea of Japan with its good water supply, drainage system and thriving agricultural, forestry, fishery, commercial and manufacturing industries.
Toyama has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 38 members.