Immerse your self within the breathtaking fantastic thing about Takayama, a small metropolis situated within the mountainous Hida area of Gifu Prefecture. Takayama boasts one in all Japan’s most picturesque townscapes, wealthy historical past, and lots of well-known festivals. Be part of us for a tour of the morning market, savor some scrumptious eats, and benefit from the Edo interval constructions and large pageant floats.
Takayama (飛騨高山), situated in Gifu Prefecture, was the ultimate vacation spot of our 1-week journey within the Hokuriku space. Earlier than arriving in Takayama, we had made stops in Kanazawa, Tateyama, and the majestic Kurobe Gorge. We have been keen to go to Takayama for a number of causes:
- We couldn’t wait to chill out in an onsen (scorching springs), and eat Kaiseki Ryori and Hida beef.
- Our household adores stunning mountain surroundings and historic Japanese cities; Takayama has retained its appeal for over 400 years.
- Takayama is a metropolis steeped in Japanese tradition and historical past, and it hosts one of the vital well-known festivals in Japan.
Since there’s fairly a bit to share, we’ll do that over 4 posts.
- Covers the northern a part of town
- Focuses on town heart space
- Share our expertise with the resort and the meals we loved
- Talks about our facet tour to Shirakawago (白川郷).
Transportation to Takayama
From Toyama, we took the JR Hida line (JR飛騨線) to succeed in Takayama. The journey lasts both round 90 minutes or 2 hours relying on the departure time. The scenic route provides picturesque Japanese countryside and mountain greenery. The spacious and comfy seats on the practice make for a calming experience. If touring from Nagoya, it’s a few 2.5-hour practice journey to Takayama.
Issues to do in Takayama
Takayama is comparatively small in comparison with different vacationer locations in Japan. For instance, in Kyoto and Kanazawa, guests usually have to take the bus to go to varied points of interest. Nevertheless, in Takayama, there’s no want for public transportation. Virtually all common factors of curiosity are inside a 15-minute stroll from our resort.
Able to go sightseeing? We dropped our luggage on the resort and made our method over to Miyagawa Morning Market.
Miyagawa Morning Market (宮川朝市)
Miyagawa Morning Market is located alongside the Miyagawa River close to the city heart. It’s the bigger of the 2 morning markets in Takayama.
Each markets shut at midday, so ensure that to reach by 10 AM to discover the choices. Why the midday closure? A lot of the produce cubicles are operated by native farmers, and they should return to their farms within the afternoon. These markets cater not solely to vacationers but in addition to the native residents, which provides to the attract.
On the south entrance of the market, there are cubicles lining the left facet of the river. Guests can buy native produce, seasonal fruits, greens, meals, and flowers.
On the other facet of the cubicles, there are shops promoting native specialties, souvenirs, preserved greens, materials, artisan bowls, and ceramic wares. With so many choices accessible, what did we find yourself shopping for? We determined to buy miso with hoba leaves (朴葉味噌) as a result of it’s not one thing generally discovered within the Tokyo space.
Right here’s the recipe when you’re and you should buy hoba leaves from nihon ichiban.
Kusakabe Heritage Home (日下部民藝館)
After searching the Miyagawa Morning Market, we headed over to Kusakabe Mingeikan (Kusakabe Heritage Home, 日下部民藝館) and Yoshijima-ke (Yoshijima Heritage Home, 吉島家住宅). These two constructions are situated subsequent to one another. These two historic buildings have been each constructed throughout the Meiji interval. They’re vital Japanese cultural belongings as prime examples of Meiji-era structure.
As each homes are pretty comparable, browse one or the opposite. We determined to go to Kusakabe Heritage Home. Right here, the doorway charge is 1,000 yen for adults, 500 yen for highschool college students, and 300 yen for youthful kids (as of 2023).
The construction was constructed by the Kusakabe household, a extremely profitable service provider household that had offered monetary help to the general public workplace. Sadly, the unique constructing burnt down in 1875, however the present construction has stood since 1879. The home was designed by grasp carpenter Jisuke Kawashiri to resemble Edo interval constructions. Inside the home, we might see the spectacular large pillars that supported the constructing.
Guests can discover the varied rooms within the heritage home and go upstairs, the place antiques are displayed.
Between the principle home and the warehouse within the again (which has extra antiques on show), there’s a small courtyard the place guests can chill out and luxuriate in tea as a part of the expertise.
Osenbei Manufacturing facility – Yume Kojo Hida 夢工場飛騨
Only a few blocks from Kusakabe Heritage Home is Yume Kojo Hida. It’s a senbei manufacturing unit the place guests could make their very own scrumptious and crispy senbei.
Have you ever tried the Japanese rice cracker known as Osenbei (お煎餅)? It’s a grilled rice cracker dipped in soy sauce for a savory, umami taste. It’s so scrumptious with inexperienced tea for a day snack.
On the manufacturing unit, guests sit by rows of furnaces, grilling the senbei dough slowly on electrical grills. Staff reveal the method and supply tricks to keep away from burning. Every senbei takes solely 1-2 minutes to cook dinner, so we now have to work quick to stop burning. Our kids had a good time grilling and having fun with the senbei they made.
After consuming our share of senbei, our household visited Sakurayama Hachiman Shrine and the close by Takayama Pageant Float Exhibition Corridor.
Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine (櫻山八幡宮)
The historical past of Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine dates again to 400 AD, and it stands as a big cultural and spiritual landmark in Takayama. Enlarged by Lord Kanamori (大名金森氏) in 1683, it is likely one of the hottest shrines in Takayama. It attracts over 1.5 million guests annually. After passing by the primary gate, a stone path and steps result in the shrine.
Alongside the stone path, there are just a few shops and eating places. Fortunately, it was very peaceable that day, with few guests round. We took our time to admire the gorgeous historical structure and the tranquility of the grounds.
Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan 高山祭屋台会館
Proper subsequent to the shrine is Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan, also referred to as the Takayama Pageant Floats Exhibition Corridor. The doorway charge is 900 yen for adults and 450 yen for youngsters. Takayama is famend for its spring and fall festivals, and it hosts one of many three nice festivals in Japan. They’re Takayama Matsuri alongside Kyoto’s Gion Matsuri and Chichibu Yomatsuri. One is held on April 14th and fifteenth, whereas the opposite takes place on October ninth and tenth, with the previous being the extra common pageant.
The museum has acquired particular permission to show 4 of the autumn pageant floats, rotated 3 times a 12 months. Every float additionally has a reputation, and at Yatai Kaikan, there’s an English clarification of the background story for the actual float. The floats are spectacular up shut, with a few of them as excessive as a 3-story constructing.
Takayama Pageant Floats
The “Mikoshi” (神輿) float above is a transportable shrine. It weighs about 2.5 tons and requires as much as 80 individuals to hold. Because it’s difficult to search out 80 individuals of the identical top, a substitute float is used throughout the pageant.
The float under is one in all our favorites, known as “Hotei-tai” (布袋台). It options dancing collectible figurines, Hotei 布袋 (Laughing Buddha with the Massive Stomach – it’s one in all Japan’s Seven Fortunate Gods), and Karako 唐子 (a boy who wears Chinese language-style garments).
It’s operated by eight individuals and 36 strings. Throughout the pageant, the collectible figurines come to life, leaping and dancing.
The next float is likely one of the most treasured attributable to its historic significance, because the hanging scroll was imported throughout the Ming Dynasty from China.
We additionally noticed just a few “Yatai Gura” (屋台蔵), the place they retailer the floats when not used for festivals. In entrance of every storage unit, there’s a image of what the float saved inside seems like.
Higashiyama Strolling Course 東山寺町・東山遊歩道
It’s time to move open air and go for a hike. Begin by heading in the direction of the southeastern a part of town to discover the Higashiyama Strolling Course. The course takes guests by a number of historic temples and shrines. You may surprise why they’re all clustered on this space. In 1588, as Lord Kanamori (大名金森氏) started developing Takayama Citadel (高山城) and the city heart, the temples and shrines have been relocated to the jap hills.
In whole, there are 16 temples right here, various in age from 500 to 1,300 years, showcasing the wealthy heritage of Takayama. We have been blown away by all of it!
After we completed strolling the course, it bought late within the afternoon, so we headed again to the resort to soak within the onsen (scorching springs) and prepare for our scrumptious dinner.
Are you prepared for Half 2 of Takayama (飛騨高山)? We’ll be exploring extra shrines, the well-known Sanmachi Suji District (often called Takayama Previous City), and Takayama Jinya! Let’s go!
