The Toyama Glass Studio is a creative hub at the center of Toyama's contemporary glass culture. It stands on a foundation laid by nearly two centuries of local glassmaking — a tradition born not from luxury, but from medicine.

During the Edo period, Toyama gained national recognition for its Echū drug peddlers (越中富山の薬売り), who traveled across Japan selling traditional remedies. This trade required glass — specifically medicine bottles, known as yakubin (薬瓶) — and glass production flourished to meet the demand. By the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Toyama had become Japan's leading producer of pharmaceutical glassware, with over ten glass factories clustered near Toyama Station.

After the war and the eventual replacement of glass with plastic in packaging, the city reoriented. In 1985, Toyama launched a glass art course for citizens, and in 1991 founded Japan's first public glass art institute — the Toyama City Institute of Glass Art. The focus shifted from mass production to personal expression, and a new generation of glass artists emerged. In 2015, the Toyama Glass Art Museum, designed by Kengo Kuma, opened to the public.

Today, glass is integrated into the city's everyday life, from bridge railings to station walls. The Toyama Glass Studio has developed Toyama Mandala Sai (富山曼荼羅彩), a palette of five original hues drawn from local materials and traditional Japanese color sensibility. Among them is Koshi-no-Hisui Glass, a translucent green made using waste jade from nearby Asahi Town.