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want to meet at fmd_good Forno Centrale
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Toyama Train Rides?
If you are already heading toward Unazuki on the Chiho Railway main line, get off at Dentetsu Ishibashi and switch to the Kamiichi Line. It is a single track that heads east into the foothills, and the last leg from Naka-Kazuma to Kamiichi runs right alongside a shallow river with the Tateyama range straight ahead. The trains are the same old electric cars from the 1970s with crank windows you can actually open to let the air in. Kamiichi station itself is just a covered platform and a convenience store across the street, but if you walk five minutes north there is a footbridge over the Joganji River that gives you a perfect rear view of the train disappearing back toward the mountains.
honestly if you're in Toyama the Kurobe Gorge Railway is the obvious one but everyone knows that already. the real hidden gem is the Himi Line that runs along the coast from Takaoka to Himi, it's just a single-car train winding through rice fields and you get these insane views of the Sea of Japan on the left side. costs like 500 yen one way and takes about 35 minutes, the station at Himi itself is tiny and has this old-school ticket booth that feels frozen in time
also worth checking out the Toyama Chiho Railway's main line from Toyama to Unazuki Onsen, it goes through these forested valleys and crosses a bunch of small rivers. the local trains are super empty on weekdays so you can pretty much have the whole car to yourself. just don't expect any announcements in english, the drivers just yell out the stops in japanese
For a completely different vibe, try the Toyama Chiho Railway's bus routes that connect the train stations deeper into the mountains. The bus from Unazuki Onsen up to the Kurobe Dam follows the same valley as the gorge railway but goes higher and gives you views of the dam from above, and the driver usually slows down at a few overlooks. It's not a train but it's the same company and the buses are these old coaches with fabric seats that smell like diesel and cigarette smoke from the drivers. The whole trip takes about an hour and costs around 1500 yen, and you'll be the only foreigner on board guaranteed.
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.