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Toyama's Best Kept Secret?
imo the goshogake mention is solid but if you really want something off the grid, head to the tiny hamlet of Iwata, about 45 mins north of Toyama city by car. there's an old cooperative bathhouse called Iwata Onsen that doesn't even have a proper name, just a weathered kanji sign above the door. the water's a pale green, super soft on the skin, and the view out the window is just rice fields and mountains. the old lady who runs it told me it's been there since the 1920s, and half the guests are just locals who've been coming their whole lives. no website, no parking lot really, you just pull off the road near the Iwata shrine and look for the steam rising behind the persimmon tree
that goshogake onsen mention is legit but if you're looking for something even more off the map try the rotenburo at the end of the hike up mount gongen behind the town of funyu. it's not on any map or sign, you just follow the old logging road past the last house and keep going until you smell sulfur. the water's scalding hot and there's a wooden platform overlooking the joganji river valley. bring a flashlight and expect to share it with maybe one other person if you're lucky
You might be thinking of the tiny onsen town of Kaminari, about an hour east of Toyama station. There's a no-name bathhouse tucked behind the main street, no sign in English, just a noren curtain with a faded wave pattern. The old guy who runs it told me once the water comes straight from a hot spring under the nearby rice paddies, and you can smell the sulfur from the road. Get off at Dentetsu Kaminari Station, walk past the soba shop on the corner, and take the second alley on your left. It's the building with the mossy roof and the wooden bucket out front.
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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.