To see more of rural Japan, and go into the mountains, we followed the
recommendations of many and went to Takayama, inland from Nagoya.
Takayama is a pretty town but it is still mostly tourists and souvenir
shops. The train ride up is worth it, and with your rail pass you get
the express with the wide view windows.
Also in Takayama is the photogenic Hida folk village. This village
was created by moving real old folk and farming homes from various
villages to one place. The homes are real but the town is not.
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The river divides old Takayama from the new on the left.
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Another shot of the river, with brilliant red trees. And a crane, for bridge repair
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In Takayama, all the streets have open storm sewers (probably once the sanitary sewers) along the sides. At all times, the stream that comes into town is diverted through all of them, and then it flows back into its regular bed here.
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Our Ryokan in Takayama had no English name, but they put out my name on a sign. I'm the only westerner. Note that my name is written reading down, and "welcome to" is on the right.
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A funny Japlish sign reads "Alancienne 3/BLUE LINES/Blue Blue Gaijin High! Standard Mother" Love that Japlish.
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The Japanese don't eat while walking, unless it's on a stick. This is just some white paste, grilled and coated in sauce, on a stick. Terry Pratchet might expect to be offered "Yoghurt? On a stick?" at some point.
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This is the old quarter of Takayama, reportedly preserved, but in reality converted into -- hard to believe -- souvenir shops
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This old general in the park had lovely trees behind him
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Snowy mountains backdrop this temple in the hills above Takayama
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A Buddhist cemetery
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This pond made a nice image, that's all
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Guardian on the bridge into old Takayama
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Lucky Cat is everywhere in Japan. This was one of the largest
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I'm was pretty sure it's not Temple Beth-Israel of Takayama. Turns out it's a cultish group called Sukyo Mahikari
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In the Hida Folk Village
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In the rafters of a Gassho-zukuri house, where they made silk
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Side of a steep sloped Gassho-Zukuri in Hida Folk Village
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The trees, the folk houses, the mountains, the Persimmons
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Rice paddies and folk home
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The mountains over Hida Folk Village
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Woman demonstrates ancient folk basket-weaving.
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Entrance to Hida Folk Village. It was photogenic, if artificial, in that all the homes had been moved here from other villages
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Almost surely this is a Japanese love hotel, shot from the train. These hotels exist to allow Japanese who live in crowded homes to escape for a quickie. It's quite overt.
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View out the train window on the spectacular route up to Takayama
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Another view as the train goes through the valley. Travel by train in Japan is great, but you can't easily stop for photos, at least not on this line which only comes every hour.
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