Takayama, Japan

飛騨特産品の店さくら井や @ Hanasatomachi 花里町

Departed from Shirakawa-go, we arrived safely at Takayama Nohi Bus Center at 4:15pm - we didn't have much time left so we had to kind of spend our time here wisely.

Similarly, the temperature here was as insane as Shirakawa-go. We waited no further and marched towards the old town district, Kamisannomachi 上三之町. The old town district is due east from the bus terminal, after crossing the Miyagawa River 宮川.

Takayama is known for its preservation of buildings dating from the Edo period two-three hundred years ago along the streets of its old town district. Apart from immersing oneself in the cultural richness at the old town, there are plenty of attractions to visit along the streets such as sake brewery, art galleries, museums and coffee houses.

Miyagawa River 宮川


Nakabashi Bridge 中橋



Kamisannomachi 上三之町
三川屋本店
For a while it snowed quite heavily, as you can see in the photo.


Gohei Mochi 五平餅 @ ¥400


Harada Sake Brewery 原田酒造場

Like Shirawaka-go, Takayama is also well known for Hida Beef. While strolling along the streets, we ran across a shop that sells beef sushi which looks promising (probably 'cause there's a queue). So apart from Gohei Mochi, we decided to snack on beef sushi as well.

Hida Kotte Ushi 飛騨 こって牛


Hida Beef Nigirizushi 飛騨牛にぎり寿司 @ ¥600

The sushi is actually sitting on an edible piece of cracker.
A little expensive but the texture and tastiness is really a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Kamininomachi 上二之町



Hida Kokubunji Temple 飛騨国分寺

Karakuri からくり @ Hanasatomachi 花里町

It's 6pm and we're 1 hour away from our scheduled bus ride at 7pm back to Nagoya. To be a little safe, we tried to have our dinner somewhere nearer to the bus terminal.

We walked pass this place called からくり (Karakuri), saw that they have Hida beef and so our dinner place was set. The restaurant was empty, so we requested to dine at the tatami style dining area.

We ordered Hoba Miso 朴葉味噌, a regional cuisine in Takayama. It's interesting that a piece of huge dried magnolia leaf is placed above the grill to cook the the Hida beef, egg, shiitake mushrooms and other condiments on top of miso paste above the leaf over fire. The leaf is pretty much analogical to aluminum foil.

Hoba Miso 朴葉味噌 @ ¥2,500



Our journey for the day:

We literally spent only approximately 3 hours in Takayama, but I'd said given the time constraint, we covered the prominent area where a typical tourist would have visited.

Most importantly, we get to taste the delicious Hida beef. Oh and I forgot to mention, it was also freezingly cold in Takayama, with a short while of heavy snowing.

Again, very grateful that everything went smoothly throughout our trips to Shirakawa-go and Takayama, and also that we boarded the Meitetsu Bus from Takayama Nohi Bus Center and arrived safely at Nagoya Meitetsu Bus Center (and we watched Moana in the bus on Kenneth's tablet).


For more photos, please check out my photo album Takayama, Japan on Facebook.