Tonami, Toyama Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Tonami (砺波市, Tonami-shi) is a city in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. As of 31 March 2018, the city had an estimated population density of 384 persons per km². Its total area was 127.03 square km (49.05 sq mi).

Geography Tonami is located in the Tonami plains of western Toyama Prefecture. Much of the area is a dispersed settlement typical of this region of Japan.

Surrounding municipalities • Toyama Prefecture • Imizu • Nanto • Oyabe • Takaoka • Toyama.

Demographics Per Japanese census data, the population of Tonami has recently plateaued after a long period of growth.

History The area of present-day Tonami was part of ancient Etchū Province, and was part of the holdings of Kaga Domain under the Edo period Tokugawa shogunate. The town of Tonami was founded on April 1, 1952 by the merger of the town of Demachi with the villages of Gokaya, Aburaden, Shoge, Nakamura and Hayashi. The villages of Aoshima and Ogami joined two months later on June 1, 1952. The villages of Ota, Minamihannya, Higachi-Nojiri, Yanaze and Nishi-Tonami were annexed on January 15, 1954, followed by Sendan, Sendanyama, Hannya, and Higashi-Hannya on March 1. The expanded town of Tonami was raised to city status on April 1, 1954. On November 1, 2004, the town of Shōgawa (from Higashitonami District) was merged into Tonami.

Government Tonami has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 18 members.

Education Tonami has eight public elementary schools and four public junior high schools operated by the town government, and two public high schools operated by the Toyama Prefectural Board of Education.

Transport: Rail • West Japan Railway Company (JR West) - Jōhana Line • Aburaden - Tonami - Higashi-Nojiri.

Transport: Road • Hokuriku Expressway • National Route 156 • National Route 359 • National Route 471.

Local Attractions • Masuyama Castle, ruins of a Sengoku period castle and National Historic Site. It was also known as Wada Castle (和田城, Wada-jō) • Yotaka festival, held in June, with many parade floats which purposely collide during the festival, drawing large crowds to witness the spectacle. The Yotaka festival event originally began in the neighboring town of Fukuno. It features competitions between groups carrying mikoshi portable shrines. "Yoiyasa" is a traditional saying shouted by many during the event. When it is night, lamps using paper shades are lit. This festival is a prayer for a good harvest of the fields. • There is a tulip park in Tonami, as well as a nationally recognised tulip festival that is held every year. There is a windmill transferred by the Netherlands, inscribed "DE VRIENDSCHAP" (friendship). The Tonami tulip festival has over 600 different kinds of tulips, and more than 2.5 million tulips in recent years.