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Industry in Toyama Prefecture
Origins Lie in the Medicine Industry/
Leading Industrial Prefecture on the Japan Sea Coast/
The Home of Delicious Rice/Originator of Stationary-Net Fishing/
Industrial Development into the Next Century
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Origins Lie in the Medicine Industry
It is impossible to talk about industry in Toyama without referring to the medicine industry that flourished with the encouragement of the Toyama Han during the Edo Period.
The capital resources accumulated through the industry provided the basis for Toyama's industrialization during the Meiji Period. These funds were invested in the electric-power generation, banks, and overseas expansion of the medicine industry itself.
Leading Industrial Prefecture on the Japan Sea Coast
Since the Taisho Period (1912-1926), the industrialization in Toyama has proceeded apace, taking advantage of the prefecture's abundant water supplies and cheap electricity. Toyama has now the largest industrial base on the Japan Sea coast.
In 1992, the total value of manufactured goods produced in Toyama at ex-factory prices was 3,779 billion yen ($37.8 billion at $1=100). Measured on a per capita basis, Toyama ranked 10th in the country in industrial output, although its share of the national total was 25th. This makes it the leading industrial prefecture on the Japan Sea coast.
Non-ferrous metals, particularly aluminum, and other metal products account for a high proportion of industrial output. The prefecture supplies 16.0 per cent of the county's total aluminum industry production.
The Home of Delicious Rice
Toyama prefecture's agricultural industry is heavily based on rice which accounts for 75.9% (No.1 in the nation as of the year 1995) of gross agricultural output. It is one of Toyama's distinct characteristics that good quality rice such as koshihikari is cultivated in a very large area, and the quality of such rice received the highest "grade A" taste ranking for 2 years in a row by the Japan Committee.
Other specialties of the region besides rice are tulips and seed rice. Japan is the leading producer in all of these categories. Especially for tulips, Toyama is the only prefecture among the local governments where research is conducted on the improvement of tulip varieties. With the coming 21st century, the prefecture is striving to improve agricultural and farm production through the application of biotechnology and other state-of -the-art technologies. These technologies are already applied to improvements of rice and lily varieties, artificial insemination of cattle, prevention of agricultural diseases and pets, and seedling-propagation techniques.
Mechanized Forestry and the No.1 Processing Base for Material Imports from the Northeast
Although the Toyama's lumber production is presently 64,000 cubic meters (as of 1995), it is anticipated that the number will grow extensively in the future. Therefore, in the field of forestry, we are working on the development of a high performance forestry mechanized operator by the Toyama Prefecture Forestry College, which was designated as the first occupational capability developmental school. Ways to improve the field are worked on by the Forestry Handling Center as well.
Moreover, the amount of material imports from the northeast are 1,460 million cubic meters (as of 1995), occupying 25% in the nation (No.1 in the nation). We are working hard toward creating the leading processing base for material imports form the Northeast.
Originator of Stationary-Net Fishing
Stationary-net fishing originated in Toyama, and is still one of the important features of the local fishing industry. Toyama Bay is virtually a natural fish preserve, and the stationary nets set up in the bay account for some 70 per cent of the entire catch reaching prefecture ports.
A large percentage of the haul is highly prized marine produce, such as yellowtail, benizuwaigani crabs, and firefly squid.
In recent years, as countries imposed 200-mile fishing zones, the industry has been working on ways to switch from a mere "fish-catching" to a "fish-production" mode. The Toyama Prefectural Fish Breeding Center and other facilities are conducting research on the growing and release of baby prawns, red sea bream, flounder, and other fish.
Industrial Development into the Next Century--Making Toyama an Intellectual Center
In 1984, Toyama Prefecture was designated by Japanese Government as one of "Technopolis" areas, in which technology-oriented industries were to be built. Since then, business, universities, and government have joined forces to promote the restructuring of industry away from base-component industries to value-added processing, assembly, and so-called high-tech industries.
More recently, in response to the shift of the Japanese economy overall toward service-oriented and software-based industries, the prefecture has adopted the "Intellectual Establishment Plan" designed to attract brain power and expertise in such areas as information services, design, and natural-science research. Several industrial-support projects are now undertaken.
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