Kurobe City

Named springs rise in the back lanes.

Ikuji springs

Photo by ブルーノ・プラス (CC BY 4.0)

01 ／ Hot spring

A 7 km pipe of hot waterbecame the case on abuse of rights.

Unazuki Onsen (宇奈月温泉) opened in 1923, drawing its water through a pipe about 7 km long from Kuronagi Onsen (黒薙温泉) upstream. A man who bought land the pipe crossed demanded that it be bought from him, and when refused, sued to have the pipe removed. In 1935 the Great Court of Cassation (大審院) rejected the claim as an abuse of rights. The case is still in Japan's civil law casebooks.

Pipe of about 7 km from Kuronagi
Opened 1923
Great Court of Cassation ruling, 1935

02 ／ Swing bridge

When a fishing boat comes,the whole bridge swings aside.

Ikuji Nakabashi (生地中橋) spans the entrance to Kurobe Fishing Port. Whenever a boat passes, the 38.4 m, 307 t bridge is lifted hydraulically and pivots on one end to open the channel. Completed in 1982, it was the first cantilever swing bridge of its kind in Japan. In 2006 the Fisheries Agency listed it among the 100 fishing-village heritage sites to hand down to the future.

38.4 m long, 307 t
Completed 1982
Japan's first cantilever swing bridge

03 ／ Gorge

Through the V-shaped valley the river cut,the trolley train threads its way.

The Kurobe Gorge (黒部峡谷) is a classic V-shaped valley carved into granite by the Kurobe River, which the city describes as the deepest, steepest valley in Japan. It became a Special Place of Scenic Beauty and Special Natural Monument in 1964, with the great cliff of Mount Okukane (奥鐘山) and Sarutobi (猿飛) downstream designated as detached areas. A line built to carry materials for power stations became the trolley train, which resumes running along its full length in October 2026.

Special Place of Scenic Beauty and Special Natural Monument, 1964
The great cliff of Mount Okukane
Full line reopens October 2026

Living here

Tokyo in 2 h 17 min on the Hakutaka.

about 40,000 people
Shinkansen stops here

From Tokyo Station to Kurobe-Unazukionsen Station in the city, the Hokuriku Shinkansen Hakutaka takes as little as 2 hours 17 minutes. The Ainokaze Toyama Railway and the Toyama Chiho Railway also run through the city. Kurobe City Hospital takes emergency patients 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, about 20,000 a year, and is the only hospital in the Niikawa area that can handle high-risk births.

People living here: 39,638people
Area: 426.31km²
Households: 15,238households
Rent (average for rentals): 44,562yen
Healthcare: 4 hospitals ／ 25 clinics

Area and habitable land at the same scalee-Stat B1101 / B1103

Population from 2010 onward (municipal boundary changed).2006-03-31 に新設合併（宇奈月町）。2010年調査から市域が変わっている。

Children waiting for childcare: —14 nurseries and similar
Home purchase subsidy: —
Average annual temperature: —

These 3 items are waiting on a nationwide data source. We do not fill them with estimates.

ACCESS

Where you can go from here.

Kurobe City in Japan36.871°N 137.448°E

to TokyoHokuriku Shinkansen137min

Travel times follow 市公式「交通・アクセス」（2024-04-12 更新）の図「黒部市へのアクセス」の「東京 → 北陸新幹線（はくたか）／最速2時間17分 → 黒部宇奈月温泉駅」。観光局の「アクセス」も「東京駅＝北陸新幹線はくたか＝黒部宇奈月温泉駅（最短2時間17分）」。駅探の時刻表（東京→黒部宇奈月温泉のはくたか）で 11:24→13:41・12:24→14:41・13:24→15:41 の2時間17分を確かめた（ほかの便は2時間18分〜2時間36分） (checked 2026-09-25). They vary by time of day.

Shape

Borders 7 municipalities across 1 prefectures.

Territory of Kurobe City

Boundaries: National Land Numerical Information (N03)

North to south

33.2km

Toyama Prefecture: 魚津市, 入善町, 朝日町, 立山町, 上市町
Nagano Prefecture: 白馬村, 大町市

Kurobe City isthis kind of town.

01In the fishing district of Ikuji, named springs such as Shimizuan no Shōzu and Tonosama Shōzu rise and are used at communal washing places
02Unazuki Onsen, which draws its water through a pipe of about 7 km from Kuronagi Onsen, was the setting of the 1935 ruling on abuse of rights
03At Kurobe Fishing Port the Ikuji Nakabashi swings aside for passing boats, and inland lies the Kurobe Gorge, a Special Place of Scenic Beauty

See the town as it is now.

Facebook富山県黒部市-285278744912843 ↗

Source: Wikidata (P2002, P2003, P2013, P2397)

If something caught your eye, ask the town itself.

Kurobe City official site ↗Wikipedia ↗