Takayama was another destination I had also seen photos of when researching Japan, the images of the dark wooden buildings from the Edo Period of Takayama’s old town have been stuck in my head as a must see location in Japan. I’m pleased to say that the old town area and the surroundings just as beautiful, if not more beautiful in person!
Takayama is located north east of Kyoto, (and north west of Tokyo) in the mountainous Gifu Prefecture. We travelled via an Nohi Highway Bus, which departed from Higashi-Umeda Station in Osaka (going via Kyoto Station) and arriving at the JR Takayama Station / Nohi Bus Terminal. From there we only had to walk 10 minutes to our accommodation. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, we have been very impressed by the standard and ease of the highway buses in Japans. They are comfortable and really reasonably priced. Alternatively we would had had to change trains a few times to get from Osaka to Takayama, potentially including a bullet train.
Another wonderful thing about Takayama is that it’s a small walkable town. Once we arrived we didn’t need to worry about getting around town via public transport, it was lovely just to walk around. On the morning of our first full day, we walked about 30 minutes out of town to the Hida No Sato Open Air Museum (or Hida Folk Village) which was a fantastic location to learn about the history of the Hida Region.
The Hida Folk Village is a collection of historical houses that have been relocated from various villages around the Hida region. The houses were built in the Edo period (from 1603 - 1868) and many are astonishing examples of the gassho-zukuri farmhouses that have the steep thatched roofs, able to withstand the heavy winter snow.
It was quite incredible to be able to walk around inside each house and learn about how people lived in the Hida region, especially how they raised silk worms and expertly wove kimonos from the harvested silk. The indoor fire places were even lit and we could climb up to the top levels of the houses. It was like stepping back in time. One thing to note is that you have to take your shoes off when entering all the house, we were continuously talking off sneakers and putting them back on, so my tip would be to wear slip on shoes.
The girls were kept entertained by the stamp collecting quiz books that we were able to pick up at the ticket office for 200 yen each. We followed the map around to all the locations that had a question to answer and a stamp to collect. It was great way to keep kids engaged and the book included an English version of the quiz. The girls got a small souvenir as a prize once they completed it all.
If you are even more interested in the historic homes of the region, there is a day tour you can do from Takayama to Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, two UNESO World Heritage Sites that are living villages of Gassho Zukuri Farmhouses. People are till living in them today, and you can even stay overnight in a thatched roof farmhouse. It would really be amazing to see, but I couldn’t justify the cost or the time spent on the bus against everyone else’s level of interest. The Hida Folk Village was no doubt just as good and much easier to reach from Takayama with kids.
Getting to Hida No Sato: We walked there from our accommodation, which was near the Red Cross Hospital in Takayama. It only took 30 mins and the kids were fine, even with the steeper hill towards the end of the walk. However we caught the bus back, the Sarubobo Bus regularly runs from the Takayama Nohi Bus Centre to the Folk Village and back. Fare is 210 yen one way.
The cost was 700 yen per adult (roughly AUD $7) and 200 yen for children although Hallie and Rooney were free as they are 6 and under. The stamp books were 200 yen each. We didn’t book tickets in advance, they were available for purchase at the entry booth.