was a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

located in Higashitonami District,

Toyama Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Toyama Prefecture has a population of 993,848 (1 January 2025) and has a geographic area of 4,247.61 km2 (1,640.01 sq mi). Toyama Prefecture borders Ishikawa Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. As of 2003, the town had an estimated

population Population is a set of humans or other organisms in a given region or area. Governments conduct a census to quantify the resident population size within a given jurisdiction. The term is also applied to non-human animals, microorganisms, and pl ...

of 14,526 and a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the ratio of a substance's mass to its volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' (or ''d'') can also be u ...

of 458.09 persons per km². The total area was 31.71 km². On November 1, 2004, Fukuno, along with the towns of Inami and Jōhana, the villages of Inokuchi, Kamitaira,

Taira The was one of the four most important clans that dominated Japanese politics during the Heian period of Japanese history – the others being the Minamoto, the Fujiwara, and the Tachibana. The clan is divided into four major groups, named ...

and

Toga The toga (, ), a distinctive garment of Ancient Rome, was a roughly semicircular cloth, between in length, draped over the shoulders and around the body. It was usually woven from white wool, and was worn over a tunic. In Roman historical tra ...

(all from Higashitonami District), and the town of Fukumitsu (from Nishitonami District), was merged to create the city of Nanto.

Culture and local festivals

Once a year, from May 1 to May 2, the Yotaka Matsuri is held in Fukuno. The

matsuri Japanese festivals, or , are traditional festive occasions often celebrated with dance and music in Japan. The origin of the word ''matsuri'' is related to the ; there are theories that the word ''matsuri'' is derived from meaning "to wait (for ...

is characterized with colourful floats consisting of giant, decorative paper lanterns. At midnight, the lanterns begin to be paraded around town with local men hanging from them who start battles whenever other floats come close. A music festival called "Sukiyaki Meets the World" is held annually in the end of August. A lot of artists take part in it from all over the world. During the festival, a steel drum is played by beating the drum with a stick.

References

External links

Nanto City official website
Dissolved municipalities of Toyama Prefecture Nanto, Toyama {{Toyama-geo-stub