Things to do
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Hida Folk Village
Close to thirty mountain farmhouses were moved onto this hillside to save them, thatched and shingled and steep roofed, ranging from one to five centuries old. They are furnished, not empty: spindles, silkworm trays, cooking gear and clothing sit where they were used. The circuit runs on unpaved paths with steps between houses, which makes it the most physical visit in town.
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Hida-Furukawa Old Town
A quarter of an hour north by train, Furukawa has a canal full of carp running past white-walled storehouses, and a small grid of timber streets behind it. The look is Takayama's old town on a smaller and quieter scale. Go on a weekday morning, walk the Seto River lanes and the temple quarter, and be back in Takayama by lunch.
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Shirakawa-gō
The thatched farmhouses of Ogimachi, with steep roofs built for deep snow, make up a World Heritage village about 50 minutes from Takayama by Nohi bus. Reserve a seat, because some departures run on reservation only, and allow at least two hours in the village. Take an early bus: the lanes are busiest in the middle of the day, when the tour coaches are in.
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Takayama Autumn Festival
Stay up for the lantern parade on the first night. It is the one time the carved floats go through the streets after dark, and each is hung with about a hundred lanterns.
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Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall
Eleven floats belong to the autumn festival and four are shown at a time, swapped three times a year, so which ones are standing depends on when the visit falls. They carry UNESCO intangible heritage listing. The annexe holds a tenth scale model of the whole Nikkō shrine complex, built over fifteen years by thirty three craftsmen. It opens every day of the year.
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Hida Kokubun-ji
A five-minute walk from the station, this temple has the only pagoda in Takayama, three storeys of dark wood, and a ginkgo said to be over 1,200 years old. The ginkgo turns gold in early November. The grounds are free to walk, so stop on the way between the station and Sanmachi.
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Hie Shrine
The spring Sannō Festival on 14 and 15 April is this shrine's, when twelve floats line the streets of the old town south of Yasugawa-dōri. On any other day it is quiet, on the south side of town about twenty minutes on foot from Sanmachi. Climb the cedar-lined steps early in the day, when the grounds are empty.
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Higashiyama Walking Course
A waymarked path of about 3.5 km links a dozen temples and shrines along the wooded foot of the eastern hills, then climbs into Shiroyama Park. Walk it in the early afternoon, when the old town is at its busiest and the path stays quiet. In snow the slopes and stone steps turn slippery, so wear shoes with grip.
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Jinya-mae Morning Market
On the square in front of the Jin'ya gate, a smaller morning market of fifteen to twenty stalls sells vegetables, pickles, flowers and crafts. It opens earlier than the riverside market, from 6 between April and December and from 7 in winter, and closes about noon. Bring cash, and expect only a handful of stalls on a wet winter morning.
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Kusakabe Mingeikan
This merchant house was built by a Hida master carpenter in the old Edo style, and its earth-floored hall rises to a frame of heavy cypress beams and pillars. Folk crafts fill the rooms around it, and concerts are sometimes staged under the roof. It stands next door to Yoshijima House, so see both, and plan around its Tuesday closing.
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Miyagawa Morning Market
Stalls line the east bank of the Miyagawa every morning, run by the sellers' own cooperative, with vegetables, pickles, miso, crafts and Hida beef skewers. It is counted among the three great morning markets of Japan. Come between seven and nine, when locals still shop here, and bring cash, because it is over by about noon.
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Nakabashi
Painted vermilion, this bridge carries the lane from the Jin'ya across the Miyagawa into Sanmachi, and it is the town's signature view. Stand on the riverbank just downstream for the classic angle, with the wooded hills behind. In April the festival floats cross it, and cherry trees along the banks frame it in spring.
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Sakurayama Hachiman-gū
The autumn half of the Takayama Festival belongs to this shrine, on 9 and 10 October, when the town's floats line its approach. The grounds are free to walk, and the float exhibition hall stands inside them. The last stretch of the approach is uphill, so allow a few extra minutes from Sanmachi.
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Sanmachi
Three blocks of dark timber merchant houses make up the preserved old town, a short walk east of the Miyagawa. The lanes hold craft shops, cafés and sake breweries, marked by the cedar balls over their doors. Walk them before ten or after four, when they are quiet, because the middle of the day brings the coach parties.
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Shinhotaka Ropeway
Two cable cars climb from Okuhida to about 2,150 metres, where a rooftop deck faces the peaks of the Northern Alps. The bus from Takayama takes about an hour and a half, by way of Hirayu Onsen. Go on a clear morning with a warm layer, and check the ropeway's operating status first, since it stops in bad weather and for maintenance.
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Shiroyama Park
Stone walls and a few signs are all that remain of Takayama's castle on this wooded hill above the old town. Paths climb in about fifteen minutes from the Jin'ya side, and the maples turn in late October and November. Finish the Higashiyama walk here and drop back into town past Shōren-ji.
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Shōren-ji
This temple hall stands in Shiroyama Park on the hill above the old town, a climb of ten to fifteen minutes that few visitors make. It is often called Nakano Shōren-ji, because a second temple of the same name sits under a kilometre away. Visit it on the way up or down the Higashiyama walk.
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Takayama Jin'ya
Sixty odd shogunal magistrates' offices stood across Japan at the end of the Edo period and this is the only one whose main buildings survive. Inside are a shoin hall of forty nine tatami, a rice store moved from the castle bailey in 1695, and a courtroom with the instruments of interrogation still laid out in it. Shoes come off and no storage is provided, so carry a bag for them.
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Takayama Museum of History and Art
Entry is free to this city museum, laid out through a row of old merchant storehouses on the edge of Sanmachi. Its rooms cover the festivals, Hida carpentry and local crafts, with a small garden between the buildings. Save it for a wet or hot afternoon, when the lanes outside are crowded and the storehouses are quiet.
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Yoshijima House
Step inside for the roof: the earth-floored hall rises the full height of the house, and its beams cross overhead in a lattice lit by high windows. It was a sake brewer's house, and the brewers' cedar ball still hangs over the door. Visit it with Kusakabe Mingeikan next door and compare the two halls.
