Two people walking past a shuttered shop front in Takayama

Fourteen Days in Japan · Thursday, March 27th, 2008

Day 11: Takayama

Takayama (高山) is a city in the mountainous Hida region of Gifu Prefecture. The city retains a traditional touch like few other Japanese cities, especially in its beautifully preserved old town. It now ranks as one of the prime candidates among travelers wishing to add a rural element to their itineraries.

A traditional shop with blue windows on an empty street at dawn

The old merchant houses of Takayama on a quiet, wet morning

Yasuko's father had recommended that I wake up early and take a walk in the center of Takayama before it got busy with tourists.

I was up at dawn, and this allowed me to capture the authentic feel of the beautiful old town while the streets were still deserted, right before a small storm hit the town.

A stone cat statue beneath dry wisteria vines on an empty street

A dark wooden merchant house with lattice windows in the rain

A lantern glowing beside latticed shop fronts on a wet street

A working city that has retained its traditional charm, Takayama boasts one of Japan's most atmospheric townscapes. Its present layout dates from the late 17th century and includes a wealth of museums, galleries and temples for a city of this size.

A stone maneki-neko beside a merchant house under bare vines

A sake brewery sign above the wet street of the old town

A long dark wooden facade with a small stone marker

A wicker basket of newspapers hanging against a lattice window

A wooden bench and lantern in front of a dark merchant house

A stone lantern in front of a long wooden facade

Orange sake crates stacked against a wooden storehouse

Chinese lantern seed pods hanging in a doorway

A wooden street lantern outside a doll shop

A painted pheasant on an old wooden signboard

A wooden menu board of sake names on a latticed wall

A latticed entrance with potted plants and a small lantern

After my lonely early-morning walk, I met Yasuko back at the hotel, where we had breakfast. Then, together, we walked again to the old town, now bustling with people, with all the shops open and an interesting street market along the river.

Glowing paper lamps hanging under a wooden ceiling

A mitarashi dango stand with hand-lettered signs

A man in a festival coat standing outside a shop

A pickle shop with barrels of tsukemono out front

Bright red Chinese lantern pods hanging in front of a shop

A tanuki statue under a straw hat beside red maple leaves

A shopkeeper in white standing at the door of a sweets shop

An old television set reflecting the photographer in its screen

Two women selling apples and vegetables at the morning market

A woman measuring spices at a market stall

While we were walking around the street market, right in the middle of Takayama, we even found this guy searching for a morning meal in the fresh water of the river.

A grey heron standing on a rock in the river

A shop front with a bicycle under painted signboards

Power lines over an old street corner under a cloudy sky

A latticed house with a stone frog by the door

A pine tree and stone lanterns in a shrine courtyard

A wooden omikuji box at the foot of the shrine steps

An omikuji stand inside a dark shrine hall

A shrine in the forest beyond a stone path

A small shrine hall with a mossy stone lantern

A bronze dragon spouting water at a purification basin

The main shrine hall seen through its great wooden gate

The main hall of the shrine among tall cedars

After such a pleasant long walk around town, we were both hungry. In the back of a store we found a nice hidden soba restaurant that served cold soba with roasted duck. After such a delicious meal, while walking back to the car to drive back to Nagoya, we stopped at a small store along the main street to enjoy some sweet taiyaki – a Japanese fish-shaped cake filled with red bean paste made from sweetened azuki beans.

A tatami dining room with low tables and cushions

A low table and cushions in the soba restaurant

A small rock garden with a stone lantern

A woman making taiyaki at a street-side stall

Turning the taiyaki moulds over the grill