Takayama

It is a very popular destination among Japanese and foreign tourists. Its ideal location in the heart of the Japanese Alps and the beauty of its old town, which allows you to go back in time and stroll through the Japan of yesteryear, make this city a charming place. It is currently known as Hida-Takayama in an attempt to differentiate it from the many other Takayamas in the country. Here you will find dozens of traditional accommodations (Ryokan), sake wineries where you can do tastings in unique buildings, beautiful temples and shrines and a spectacular old town full of houses from the Edo period whose architecture has barely changed to this day. Walking through the historic center and taking the opportunity to cross one of the bridges that cross the Miyagawa River, such as the reddish Nakabashi Bridge, both day and night, will help you discover another perspective of the city.

On the face To the tourist attractions, we must highlight:

- Sanmachi Suji: It is the old town of the city and receives this name from its three main streets : Ichinomachi, Ninomachi and Sannomachi. This area is perfectly preserved with houses from the Edo period, a time when the city was a rich merchant town, which today function as museums, art galleries, craft shops or cafes. You can enter some of the old houses whose architecture has barely changed since the Edo period, such as the house of the Kusakabe family or the Yoshijima family.

- Temple Hida Kokubunji: It is the oldest temple in Takayama, built in the year 746, in the middle of the Nara period, by Emperor Shomu as a provincial temple. However, the temple was destroyed by a fire and the oldest structure currently standing is the main hall, which dates back to the 16th century and is considered a National Cultural Treasure. In addition to the main hall, in the temple grounds you can find a bell tower, the treasure hall, with various objects of cultural importance, a large ginkgo tree 38 meters high and about 1,200 years old, designated a national natural monument, a 3-story pagoda, which originally had 7, is a reconstruction from 1821 and the only one of this style in the region, and a large stone 1.8 meters in diameter that is believed to be the foundation stone of the pagoda original.