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 ...
. In 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 9,972 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 380.61 persons per km
2. The total area was 26.20 km
2.
On November 1, 2004, Inami, along with the towns of
Fukuno 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
the 12th District), and the town of
Fukumitsu (from
the 5th District), merged to create the city of
Nanto.
History
Inami is most well known for its extensive wood carving district which traces its origins to the construction of the Inami Betsuin Zuisen-ji Temple in 1390. This temple, entirely made of wood and ornamented with intricate carvings has a long history of burning down only to be rebuilt in a much more extravagant fashion.
The temple was most recently rebuilt during the
Meiji period
The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...
in 1885, and now exists as the largest wooden Pureland Buddhist temple in the
Hokuriku region
The is located in the northwestern part of Honshu, the main island of Japan. It lies along the Sea of Japan and is part of the larger Chūbu region. It is almost equivalent to the former Koshi Province (Japan), Koshi Province and Hokurikudō are ...
.
It was officially designated as "one of the prefecture's important cultural assets" on April 1, 1965.
Because of its rich history, wood carving is the major trade in Inami. During the reconstruction of the temple in the mid 18th century woodcarvers from
Kyoto
Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...
were dispatched to help in the rebuilding process. These helpers ushered in a new era of woodcarving in Inami, and local carpenters began to produce a more varied assortment of carvings than the temple pieces they had focused on previously.
Presently, the woodcarvers use over 200 different variations of chisels to complete their works. They are considered to be the most skilled woodcarvers Japan.
The sound of the Inami woodcarving district was chosen in 1996 as one of the
100 Soundscapes of Japan.
References
External links
Nanto City official website
{{Authority control
Dissolved municipalities of Toyama Prefecture
Nanto, Toyama