Exploring Takayama in a free and easy way

31 May 2016

Most of the attractions within Takayama town that interested us were within walking distance from our hotel and Takayama Station. Any visit to Takayama must include a walk through the morning markets.  It's a great chance to interact with the locals and buy hand-made goods like Japanese pickles and miso. There were two morning markets, the Jinya mae market located just outside the Takayama Jinya and the Miyagawa morning market located on the other end of the old town, next to the Miya river.  We went to the Jinya Mae market first.

Streets of Takayama in the morning. Pretty deserted in the non-peak season.

 

Welcome Cat along a main street with modern stores, cafes and restaurants.

 

The Jinya-mae morning market consists of several small stalls selling flowers, pottery, pickles and local produce. It was not too exciting and we decided to move on to the next market.

Jinya-mae morning market.

 

Takayama Jinya, former local government office and a National Historic Site. Only existing building of its kind in Japan.

We decided not to see the insides of the Takayama Jinya. We wanted to try some street food at the market for breakfast and local specialities such as Hida Beef steamed buns and Mitarashi dango were sold near the Jinya market.

 

Hida Beef steamed buns.

Mitarashi dango - a skewer of chewy rice balls coated in soy sauce. Not that great but should try when in Takayama.

 

There were a couple of prominent bridges in Takayama that served as good landmarks. The red bridge is Nakabashi Bridge and there is a green bridge called the Yanagibashi Bridge.  We saw both, along the road running parallel to the Miyagawa River, as we made our way to the Miyagawa Morning Market.

 

Red coloured Nakabashi Bridge over the Miyagawa River.

I was surprised to see a nice looking Koi inside the river. The water quality in the river must be good to support such big fishes.

A nice looking and big Sanke koi in the clear waters of the Miyagawa river.

Besides koi, the river also supported birds like the heron.

Heron hunting for food on the river.

Caught something that looked like a round clam.

 

Koi figurine outside one of the houses.

 

Miyagawa Market was busier and has more stalls than the Jinya Market. We noticed that the signs on the stalls displayed English, Chinese and Bahasa Indonesia languages. Apparently, many Indonesia or Malaysian tourists frequented this town and we spotted groups of them in the market.

 

Giant Koinobori or carp streamers over the Miyagawa River.

May is the month where Children’s Day is celebrated. Giant Koi-nobori or carp streamers were swaying over the Miyagawa River.

In Japanese culture, the carp symbolizes courage and strength because of its ability to swim against the current and up a waterfall. In the old days, it was celebrated as the Boys' Festival, and one streamer was hung for every boy in the family, expressing hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong like wild carps. Now, it is changed to Children’s Day which includes also daughters.

Beneath the carp streamers were more real life wild carps, playing and feeding in the river.

Koi and carps were living well in the river. Some tourist were feeding them with food bought from enterprising stall holders.

Besides road side stalls, there were stores by the river that sells souvenirs, local produce and cafes that tempted us with more good food.

Japanese style rice burger with Hida Beef. 

Amazed by the top notched service and quality of the crockery in these small Japanese cafes.

 

Generally, the service provided in Japanese restaurants and cafes were excellent. We ordered a Japanese burger to share and the staff cut it in half of us without any fuss.

After the morning market closed, the next place to explore would be the San-Machi (Town of the Three) lined with old merchant houses and was the historical centre of Takayama.

After visiting the Edo-era old post-towns along the Nakasendo, Takayama’s old historical centre was not so awe-inspiring. Only notable difference was the larger number of sake breweries found at Takayama. A good place to taste and buy local sake or buy some small bottles as souvenirs or gifts.

Symbol of a sake brewery – a ball of cedar at the entrance.

Many souvenirs shops were selling the Sarubobo dolls in Takayama. Sarubobos are red human-shaped dolls, with no facial features, and made in a variety of sizes. This was supposed to be the largest around the region. Traditionally, sarubobos are made by grandmothers for their grandchildren as play dolls and for their daughters as a charm for good marriage, good children and to ensure a well-rounded couple.

When it was time for lunch, the Tourist Information Centre provided us with information on where to find good ramen restaurants. There was one just round the corner. It was a small ramen restaurant with counter-seats.

After exploring the old town a bit more, we decided to head back to the hotel to rest as the sun was out and it was getting kind of warm, even for Japan in Spring.

We were craving for some coffee and dessert and were tempted by a nice cafe with outdoor seating.

A good way to spend an lazy afternoon at Takayama. Nice food, nice company in a nice surrounding.

 

An evening walk along the Higashiyama Walking Course was a good way to burn some of the calories.

Map showing the trail and locations of the many shrines, temples and cultural assets in Takayama’s Teramachi (Temple District).

This was a marked trail that took us through many shrines, temples and cultural assets in Takayama’s Teramachi (Temple District). We started at the foot of the hill where the Higashiyama Hakusan Jinya Shrine was located and followed the recommended course.

Higashiyama Hakusan Jinya Shrine, cemetery on the right side.

 

There were cemeteries near the shrine, including graves of famous people related to Takayama. It was kind of eerie as the sky started to darken with the setting sun. We passed through countless number of temples and shrines and we lost track of where we were.

 

Good views of the surrounding mountains as the sun sets.

Silhouette of Buddha in one of the temples.

Some of the temples and shrines offered good views of the surrounding mountains, others have good maple and cherry trees and ponds. It would be nice to visit in autumn with the fall foliage.

Large bells seems to be a feature in these temples.

This walking course was actually quite long and included a loop around the Shiroyama Park, a wooded hill and former site of Takayama Castle. We did not complete the entire course and skipped that part of the course as it was getting dark and we were longing for more Hida Beef for dinner.

There are many restaurants serving the prized Hida beef all over Takayama. Even the restaurant at the Best Western Takayama hotel (where we stayed) offered a set dinner with Hida Beef steak. Since we had been eating lots of Japanese food, we decided to go to a Western-style restaurant for a change and picked Le Midi, a French style restaurant.  Service was excellent as usual and the A5 Grade Hida Beef steak was great.

Hida Beef Steak at the Le Midi, a French style restaurant in Takayama, with creamy soup, red wine and sorbet.

 

Although we enjoyed our beef steak, cooked western style, we all came to the conclusion that the best way to eat a high grade wagyu beef, with all the fatty marbling on it, was yakiniku or teppanyaki, with the meat piping hot and fat oozing round our tongue as we bit into it.