Hida Takayama, also known as Takayama City, is located in northern Gifu Prefecture. This area overlooks the Northern Alps to the northeast, with spectacular mountains such as Mount Yarigatake and Mount Hotaka, and is the center of the Hida region. For this reason, it is familiarly known as Hida Takayama.
Here, the historical castle town and merchant towns from the Edo period remain beautifully preserved, and the area is called "Hida's Little Kyoto" by many tourists for its beauty.
The main attractions in the Hida Takayama area include the Takayama Jinya (castle camp) and the Hida Daishonryu Caves.
Takayama Jinya" is the name given to the post of the Edo-period governor established by the Edo shogunate to administer the Hida Province. This building was used as an official office until 1969, when it was decided to preserve it as a cultural asset due to its valuable historical value.
In 1996, the storehouse manager's house, the county commissioner's house, and the Oku-zashiki (back room) were restored, faithfully recreating the way they looked in the Edo period. Today, it is a popular spot that is definitely worth a visit for tourists visiting the Hida Takayama area.
The Hida Grand Stalactite Caves, discovered in 1965 by Ohashi Togichi, are the highest stalactite caves in Japan (900 m).
The cave is dotted with many natural formations that can only be produced in a closed and humid environment, such as helictite, which is scientifically rare and unique to limestone caves, and fossils such as sea lilies and fusurina, which are found in the cave. For this reason, the area is highly regarded by tourists and has become a popular tourist attraction.
Shirakawa-go is an area spread out along the Shogawa River basin in Gifu Prefecture, and is famous throughout Japan for its gassho-zukuri villages. Because of its historical and cultural value, Shirakawa-go was designated as a national historic site in 1970 as "Etchu Gokayama Ainokura Village" and "Etchu Gokayama Suganuma Village," and in 1994 was selected as a national Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
In 1995, the village was registered as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (cultural heritage) as "Shirakawa-go and Gokayama Gassho-Zukuri Villages. Every year in February, the traditional rural landscape surrounded by mountains and the carefully preserved Gassho-zukuri villages attract visitors to enjoy the night view during the weekend light-up events.
Built between the end of the Edo period and the end of the Meiji period (1868-1912), this is a village of gassho-zukuri, a style unique to heavy snowfall areas, where the original Japanese landscape of mountains, rivers, fields, and wooden houses can still be seen. This is a precious area where gassho-zukuri are still used in real life. Gassho-zukuri are built by combining wooden beams in a moun...»
The Takayama Matsuri consists of two festivals: the Sanno Matsuri in the spring and the Hachiman Matsuri in the fall. The people of Hida have long been skilled in architecture and sculpture, and are known as "Hida artisans." The Takayama Festival showcases the stalls that these artisans have painstakingly built. The festival is one of the three most beautiful festivals in Japan, and the highlight...»
Houbazushi is a special kind of sushi usually made for holidays of farm work and ohimachi, and also when having guests home. This special sushi is decorated colorfully with vinegared salted mackerels and salted trouts. If rice is wrapped with a hou leaf while the rice is still warm, it absorbs the scent of Hou more, however the leaf later dulls its color. In some of the areas, this sushi is wrappe...»
The people of this town where Edo culture was passed on as tenryo during the Edo edo are curious to new food, and Chinese noodles have been popular since before WWII. It is said that the first “Takayama ramen” was served as “Masago soba”, in a stall opened during the early Showa days. “Soba” means Chinese noodles in Takayama, and if you mean Japanese soba you have to say so. The Chinese noodles ha...»
This is a pickled dish of “Hida benimaru kabu”, a traditional turnip of Mino, Hida, grown mainly in Takayama city, Hida area. “Hida benimaru kabu” is smooth and it has a slight sweet taste when biting it raw. Plenty of salt is used when pickles are made, which make an essential preserved food for winter when the snow cuts off all traffic. Washing the red turnips with leaves is a scene often seen i...»
The beef ranked by the Japan Meat Grading Association as “3, 4 and 5” among the black Japanese Gifu beef graded as A1 – A5 is called “Hida Beef”. It is a brand only given to beef of cows raised in Gifu for more than 14 months and those that are graded as having especially profound taste. The “Hida beef” are produced with people who care about the pedigree and safe animal food, and spend time and e...»
“Pickles steak” is a local delicacy of Hida area, Gifu. There was a custom to grill pickles in Hida since long ago. It started when frozen pickles, an important food for the harsh winter, were grilled on magnolia leaves beside the fire in order to melt them. Cut pickles are grilled on top of magnolia leaves and mixed with raw eggs. It is a popular menu in bars in Hida area. Some are cooked with oi...»