Toyama Prefecture in the context of "Gifu Prefecture"

The Chūbu region (中部地方, Chūbu-chihō), Central region, or Central Japan (中部日本, Chūbu-nihon) is a large and diverse region in the middle of Honshū, Japan's main island. In a wide, classical definition, it encompasses nine prefectures (ken): Aichi, Fukui, Gifu, Ishikawa, Nagano, Niigata, Shizuoka, Toyama, and Yamanashi.

It is located directly between the Kantō region and the Kansai region and includes the major city of Nagoya as well as Pacific Ocean and Sea of Japan coastlines, extensive mountain resorts, and Mount Fuji.

Niigata Prefecture (新潟県, Niigata-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [ɲiː.ɡa.ta, -taꜜ.keɴ, ɲiː.ŋa-]) is a prefecture in the Chūbu region of Honshu of Japan. Niigata Prefecture has a population of 2071066 (1 October,2025) and is the fifth-largest prefecture of Japan by geographic area at 12,584.18 km (4,858.78 sq mi). Niigata Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture and Nagano Prefecture to the southwest, Gunma Prefecture to the south, Fukushima Prefecture to the east, and Yamagata Prefecture to the northeast.

Niigata is the capital and largest city of Niigata Prefecture, with other major cities including Nagaoka, Jōetsu, and Sanjō. Niigata Prefecture contains the Niigata Major Metropolitan Area centered on Niigata with a population of 1,395,612, the largest metropolitan area on the Sea of Japan coast and the twelfth-largest in Japan. Niigata Prefecture is part of the historic Hokuriku region and features Sado Island, the sixth largest island of Japan in area following the four main islands and Okinawa Island.

Nagano Prefecture (長野県, Nagano-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [naꜜɡano, naɡanoꜜkeɴ]) is a landlocked prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. It has a population of 2,007,682 as of 1 July 2023 and a geographic area of 13,561.56 square kilometres (5,236.15 sq mi). It borders Niigata Prefecture to the north, Gunma Prefecture to the northeast, Saitama Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the southeast, Shizuoka Prefecture and Aichi Prefecture to the south, and Gifu Prefecture and Toyama Prefecture to the west.

Nagano is the prefecture's capital and largest city, with other major cities including Matsumoto, Ueda, and Iida. The prefecture is known for its impressive highland areas of the Japanese Alps, including most of the Hida Mountains, Kiso Mountains, and Akaishi Mountains, which extend into neighbouring prefectures; it contains nine of the twelve highest mountains in Japan. Its mountain ranges, natural scenery, and history have gained the prefecture international recognition as a winter sports tourist destination, and it received further attention as the host of the 1998 Winter Olympics. It is served by the Hokuriku Shinkansen railway line with direct services to Tokyo, Toyama, and Kanazawa.

The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama are one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The cultural property consists of three historic mountain villages over an area of 68 hectares (170 acres) in the remote Shogawa river valley, stretching across the border of Gifu and Toyama Prefectures in central Japan. Shirakawa-gō (白川郷, "White River Old-District") is located in the village of Shirakawa in Gifu Prefecture. The Gokayama (五箇山, "Five Mountains") area is divided between the former villages of Kamitaira and Taira in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture.

The valley is in a mountain region with considerable snowfall, and these villages are well known for their clusters of farmhouses, constructed in the architectural style known as gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り), which are designed to easily shed snow from their steep roofs.

Ishikawa Prefecture (石川県, Ishikawa-ken; Japanese pronunciation: [i.ɕi̥.ka.wa, -waꜜ.keɴ]) is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu island. Ishikawa Prefecture has a population of 1,096,721 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,191 km (1618 sq mi). Ishikawa Prefecture borders Toyama Prefecture to the east, Gifu Prefecture to the southeast, and Fukui Prefecture to the south.

Kanazawa is the capital and largest city of Ishikawa Prefecture, with other major cities including Hakusan, Komatsu, and Kaga. Ishikawa is located on the Sea of Japan coast and features most of the Noto Peninsula which forms Toyama Bay, one of the largest bays in Japan. Ishikawa Prefecture is part of the historic Hokuriku region and formerly an important populated center that contained some of the wealthiest han (domains) of the Japanese feudal era. Ishikawa Prefecture is home to Kanazawa Castle, Kenroku-en one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan, Nyotaimori ("body sushi"), and Kutani ware.

The Kaga Domain (加賀藩, Kaga-han), also known as the Kanazawa Domain (金沢藩, Kanazawa-han), was a domain of the Tokugawa Shogunate of Japan during the Edo period from 1583 to 1871.

The Kaga Domain was based at Kanazawa Castle in Kaga Province, in the modern city of Kanazawa, located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshu. The Kaga Domain was ruled for its existence by the tozama daimyō of the Maeda, and covered most of Kaga Province and Etchū Province and all of Noto Province in the Hokuriku region. The Kaga Domain had an assessed kokudaka of over one million koku, making it by far the largest domain of the Tokugawa shogunate. The Kaga Domain was dissolved in the abolition of the han system in 1871 by the Meiji government and its territory was absorbed into Ishikawa Prefecture and Toyama Prefecture.

The Hida Mountains (飛騨山脈, Hida Sanmyaku), or Northern Alps (北アルプス, Kita Arupusu), is a Japanese mountain range which stretches through Nagano, Toyama and Gifu prefectures. A small portion of the mountains also reach into Niigata Prefecture. William Gowland coined the phrase "Japanese Alps" during his time in Japan, but he was only referring to the Hida Mountains when he used that name. The Kiso and Akaishi mountains received the name in the ensuing years.

The Hokuriku Shinkansen (Japanese: 北陸新幹線) is a high-speed Shinkansen railway line connecting Tokyo with Tsuruga in the Hokuriku region of Japan. It is jointly operated by East Japan Railway Company (JR East) and West Japan Railway Company (JR West).

The first section, between Takasaki and Nagano in Nagano Prefecture, opened on 1 October 1997 in time for the 1998 Winter Olympics, and was originally called the Nagano Shinkansen (長野新幹線). The extension to Toyama in Toyama Prefecture and Kanazawa in Ishikawa Prefecture opened on 14 March 2015. Construction of a further section onward to Fukui and Tsuruga in Fukui Prefecture, covering 125 kilometers and six stations, commenced in 2012 and opened on 16 March 2024. The route of the final section to Shin-Osaka was decided on 20 December 2016 as the Osaka–Kyoto route, with construction expected to begin in the late 2020s and take about 25 years, after impact assessment procedures for areas along the line are completed.