Japan Trip - Day 10 (3rd April 2010)

高山(Takayama) – 東京(Tokyo)

Breakfast was served at the restaurant on the first floor. It was Japanese-style breakfast and we were each given a set which includes some special miso on a hoba leave. The miso tastes very good and the combination is something different which we have never tried before.

Breakfast

Miso on Hoba Leave

Chawamushi

After breakfast, we took a few pictures around the hotel compound before taking the hotel shuttle bus back to the train station. We deposited our bags and then walked to the Morning Markets (朝市). There are two morning markets at Takayama where both are must-go places – the Jinya-mae Market (陣屋朝市) in front of the Takayama Jinya, and the Miyagawa Market （宮川朝市）along the Miyagawa River in the old town. They start at 7am and ends around noon. At the morning markets, you can find fresh farm produce and also local crafts. The prices here are cheaper than the shops at the old town. I bought most of my souvenirs and gifts here.

Our plan today was to cover the Hida Folk Village (a substitute of Shirakawa-go as we do not have enough time). We took a bus from the Takayama Station. The Hida Folk Village (飛騨の里) is an open air museum exhibiting over 30 typical farmhouses and other traditional buildings from the Hida region, the mountainous district of Gifu Prefecture around Takayama. The museum's main attractions are a number of gassho-zukuri houses. The massive farmhouses with their steep, thatched roofs which look like praying hands ("gassho-zukuri") were moved here from the nearby Shirakawa-go region. 

In this Folk Village, you can also see that all buildings are carefully preserved. There are also display boards to describe the background behind each house.

Photos taken with Zarubobo

Typical Gassho-Zukuri Houses

After visiting the Folk Village, we went for lunch – another serving of Hida Beef. This time, we choose to try the Japanese-style hida beef. We ordered sukiyaki and yakiniku don. They were also delicious. 

Sukiyaki

Yakiniku Don

After lunch, we head back to the train station for our train back to Tokyo.