Takayama was once an enclave of skilled woodworkers which can be seen in the architecture of the majority of the old houses. It gained importance as a source of high-quality timber and highly skilled carpenters during the feudal ages. For these important resources, the city was put under direct control of the shogun and enjoyed quite a bit of prosperity considering its remote mountain location. This is noticeable especially in the downtown area and that is what we want to see this morning and also explore a few museums and the surrounding hills.
Our first stop however is the morning market which is hyped in multiple guidebooks as interesting however it is a letdown for us with only a couple booths with vegetables and the tourists by far outnumbering the locals.
As we walk across the river towards the old area we notice lots of small interesting details, a water fountain here, a landscaped area there which makes investigating the little nooks of the area exciting.
As we explore the area we find a free museum that we decide to enter. It is a traditional like house used as government office for some time (even now part of it is still used).
It is quiet inside and it has a nice interior garden, what we find most interesting though are the “prehistoric” calculators and computers in an upstairs exhibition.
We explore those for a while, the signs are not in English but we can guess what they are used for, at least most of them.
And some of them we recognize from our youth which really dates us. But overall even though it is a small museum we really enjoyed it and now it is time to continue our exploration.
Before entering the old town area we decide to climb up the nearby hill where the feudal lord castle once stood. There are only foundations to be seen now at the top but the walk through the houses and forest is invigorating, as it is not yet that hot, and we also have great views of the city below.
Returning down we finally enter the old town area exploring first the main street running through the downtown. It is here we can see most clearly that this was the city of carpentors with wooden houses and temples everywhere. The city and especially the downtown area seems to be quite popular with Japanese tourists which are everywhere. And then it is us, the only Westerners and quite an attraction for anyone that passes us.
On the sides of the street is the old canalization which seems to still be really useful given the rain the day earlier. We pop our heads into a few side shops and courtyards, they are quite scenic and interesting to explore.
Almost all houses are now souvenirs shops mostly pottery and wood based carvings and we cannot resist buying some from one of the cheaper stores.
We also find a cheap food stall selling some non-identifiable balls of food as snacks and we buy a couple and they are quite good.
While we are eating we also see a few hand drawn carriages which potentially could carry people around through the downtown area but we do not see anyone using them.
As it is almost noon we decide to return to the car as we still have another stop planned for today. On the way however we notice an interesting food stall which sells something that we haven’t tried yet and as we are still hungry we buy a couple of plates and they are great and quite filling.
