Japan 3: Takayama

Early morning at Sanmachi Suji, Takayama's Old Town

Thursday, April 4

A list of Takayama specialties at the hostel.
We tried everything!

This morning was basically spent in a culinary trance, fluttering from store to store and tasting the regional foods that Takayama is proud of. Searching for the morning market, we stopped at a food stand to try the Mitarashi Dango that was being freshly prepared. If you've ever played Katamari Damacy, you'd know this treat. Mitarashi Dango is the unmistakable balls of rice cakes, skewered together and grilled with a sticky thick soy basting sauce.

We got a bit confused finding the markets. Every time we walked up the river, the sign to "markets" would point downriver, and when we would walk down the river, the sign to "markets" would point upriver. It turns out, there are two morning markets and they're just not signed all that clearly. The northern market was fairly small so you have to be looking for it. It was nearby the Jinya building. We didn't enter the Jinya as it charged an entrance fee.

For the girl who has everything:
a bouquet of chilli at the markets

The southern market is difficult to miss, it is along the riverside and much larger, it just wasn't open yet at the time we were searching for the markets (ie. 8am).

The old town (Sanmachi Suji) was my favourite part of Takayama. Arriving as early as we did, stores were just opening their doors as we strolled down the main street. As expected, most of the stores are tourist shops. The main pride of Takayama chachkas is hand-crafted wooden owls. We went to a store where you could watch the craftsman making them. The tourist stores also sell furniture made from beautifully prepared wood. I really wanted to take a table home with me, if it weren't so impractical. It's worth visiting a few crafts stores just to see how stunning these pieces are, the way the worker embellishes style on the natural grain and shape of the wood.

Sanmachi Suji

Our next snack was some rice crackers. Fresh made onsite, they were irresistible with the smell of soy permeating the air. What was even better was the little fish-faced pancakes filled with all sorts of goodies. We bought a pack of 5 to taste, then got a pack of 15 to follow up because they were too delicious and we couldn't have just one each! The bite-sized pancakes were reminiscent of dutch Poffertjes, but they had fillings like chocolate, hot dog, sesame, and red bean. I'm a fan.

Moving across the street, the boys bought some Japanese beer at a tourist shop. The storekeeper opened the beers for them, and there they were drinking in the middle of the street. Which is awesome for us, although I don't know how socially acceptable that is in Japan. I found out later, when talking to a local in Tokyo, that people don't eat or drink while on the go. That explains why it's always so difficult to find a garbage bin, but doesn't explain what all the vending machines are for.

Sake is another regional specialty of Takayama. We were way too tired to truly enjoy it, but there were a few stores in the old town that provided free samples of sake. In one of these stores there was a mysterious tatami room. Taking off our shoes, we followed the tatami floor through a passage to find the cutest little cafe. Amber ordered a deep roasted green tea latter, and Scott had this parfait that was heavenly.

Just before leaving the old town, Mike and I filled up on a Hida beef croquette. This one is a delightful blend of salty Hida beef flakes with mashed potato, deep fried with what I assume is a crunchy panko crust. We couldn't eat just one.

We walked through the south markets and along the lakeside park before returning to the hostel in the afternoon. With plenty of time to spare, we decided to rent bikes from the hostel (at K's House it's about 100Y per hour, to a max of 700Y).

We rode along the south side of the river, and up a steep hill towards a quiet temple. We parked the bikes and hiked further up the mountain to the Ruins of Takayama Castle. There are several trails to hike in the forested mountain here. We were scared away by the impending rain though, and returned to the hostel after seeing the ruins. This hiking area is a nice way to enjoy nature nearby the city. It was a charming forest.

At the Ruins of Takayama Castle.
By the way, the "ruins" is an empty platform at the top of a mountain, and there are no building remnants to see.
But the walk is pretty, and the view worthwhile.

Remember how I said this was the Onsen tour of Japan? Yep, you got it. We went to another onsen at the Takayama Green Hotel. This onsen was pleasant enough to sooth our fatigued bodies, but lacked in atmosphere what Okuhida offered.

Parking the bikes to hike up the mountain.

For dinner, we just went to a rice bowl place. It's nothing special, but satisfying in its simplicity: japanese sticky rice, mixed with egg, and topped with crispy tonkatsu and spring onion.

Previous: Okuhida Onsen Village

Japan 2: Okuhida Onsen Village

Wednesday, April 2

We enjoyed a freshly prepared breakfast at the guesthouse, then we departed Shirakawa-go to our next destination. This involved the hour drive back to Takayama, then continuing another hour onwards toward Okuhida. Again, the GPS was able to take us to the Okuhida Hotel, and get us to the region, but not to any specific destination within it. The Okuhida region is supposed to be known for its hot springs, and apparently most of the hotels in this area have hot spring onsen to visit.

Okuhida...

We drove along the winding mountains road, looking specifically for the Okuhida Garden Hotel Yakedake. Well, easier said than done. And that simplified [bus] map on the Japan-guide website, not particularly helpful. The GPS did find the Okuhida Hotel for us, which looked closed so we didn’t even enter it. But on driving up the road, down the road, again and again and again, you get the point – there was no other hotels in site. The hot springs and hotels here are really well hidden!

The beautiful drive to Okuhida region

What you can’t miss however, is the Bear park. Not to mean you should visit it, in fact you probably shouldn’t. We did visit the bear park for lack of knowing what else to do in this area and, we all love to see bears. The bears here are really cute, and some will even do tricks. They do seem to schedule shows with the trained bears but we didn’t stay to watch the show, nor did we want to after seeing the facilities. 

I see it mentioned again and again on travel websites, Japan has a different attitude towards animal care than we have in western countries. I must agree. The bears were kept in bland concrete enclosures, and the seemingly sick, injured or bullied bears were kept separated in smaller barred cages. As animal welfare enthusiasts, we regretted paying this establishment money that encouraged keeping these beautiful animals under these conditions. Some of the bears were clearly trained to do tricks, because when they received human attention, they did these tricks non-stop.

The reason you can’t miss the bear park is because it’s a pretty iconic and obvious building. And more importantly, right opposite the entrance to the bear park is a small road leading steeply downhill – right to the Okuhida Garden Hotel Yakedake!! We tentatively drove down this road, at a loss for where else this place could possibly be. It’s absolutely insane how this gigantic bright blue building is impossible to see until you literally are driving into its car park. But it was so worth the search.

... and what to do at a Japanese onsen:

Entrance to the hot springs was 500Y, we brought our own towels, but they rented towels for an additional 200Y. This was the best onsen we visited during our time in Japan. I specifically looked for this one because it had a mixed gender bath. That made it a nice introduction to the onsen world because as a group we could enjoy it together, and also because you wear provided dress/shorts for the mixed gender bath. As you can see from our exasperated search for the place, it’s in a still, peaceful, middle-of-nowhere location in the mountains, adding to the serenity of the experience.

Sorry there are no photos, but that would have been impolite, to take photos in such a private setting.

So, what to do in an onsen? This question plagued my mind beforehand, because we westerners like our clothing and modesty. Well, as my friend told me when I discussed the matter with her after her experience in Japan: you get over the nudity quickly.

Okuhida Garden Hotel Yakedake had both single and mixed gender baths. You enter the bathing area through the changing room. You remove your shoes at the entrance and replace them with provided slippers. Select a basket to fill with your clothes, and undress completely in the changing room. From here you proceed to the shower area. All onsens we visited had stools to sit at, and provided liquid soap, shampoo and conditioner. You shower before and after entering the baths.

The gender-separated baths are strictly clothing free. No bathing suits, no underwear, nothing but the small dainty towel that you may balance on your head while in the water. The onsen is an addictive experience, especially given the cool temperatures in the mountains. It is truly a relaxing experience, and Okuhida’s outdoor onsen was aesthetically one of the nicer ones we visited. And we visited many.

In fact, I may as well call this trip the “Onsen Tour of Japan” because THAT’S how many onsen we visited.

On the way into the mixed-gender onsen, of course clothing is required. The hotel provides dresses for the women and shorts for the men to wear into the mixed-gender baths. There was even a small cave hot spring that had super hot water and a refreshing waterfall at the entrance.

Note that in some more formal onsen parks, the strategy for entering the bathing area is a bit different. In Kobe, we visited an onsen theme park, where at check-in they gave us robes and a towel. The etiquette in that situation was to use the first changing room to put your clothes in a locker, and put on the robes. Then, fully enrobed, we walked through a public area to the baths. Before entering the gender-separated baths we entered a second changing room, where you place the robes in lockers, and undress completely to enter the showers. That was a lot of fun to figure out, and a few Japanese women were giggling at me in the first changing room when I was confused, so hopefully this post will save someone else the same embarrassment.

Limestone Caves

On the drive back into Takayama, we stopped by a small limestone cave attraction. I recall admission being about $10-11 per person. Honestly, if you've ever seen any cave before in your life, then you can skip this one. First, there's no geological tour available in English, which I find is the main interesting thing to do when visiting a cave. Second, this particular cave was pretty underwhelming. It was underwhelming to the point where I bailed on my plans to visit Akiyoshido Cave, which is the largest limestone cave in Japan, because I didn't want to risk a day's long train ride for a similar experience to this.

Takayama

And this, is where our evening draws to a glorious end. We checked into the K's House Takayama Hostel, which provided very comfortable accommodations. There were actually quite a few families staying at the hostel in early April, probably something to do with the peak season.

But today's icing on the cake was our dinner. 

We went to Maruaki Hida Beef Restaurant for dinner. The place is run by a butcher that prepares the meat himself for yakiniku (like Korean BBQ style), sukiyaki (meat and vegetables cooked in a broth, fondue-style) and shabu shabu (thin-sliced meat boiled in water). Hida beef, is like Kobe beef, but more affordable. We ordered 2 plates of the best cuts of Hida beef and a plate of regular cuts. What came was perfectly marbled, butyraceous melt-in-mouth beef, including a side of vegetables per dish. The rice was served with pieces of dried Hida beef to mix into it, adding a smokey salty flavour. For the best meat I've ever eaten, including all sides, and 1-2 drinks each, the whole meal came up to about 4200Y per person. Honestly, we had a piece of tenderloin later in the trip, and there is no comparison to the mouthwatering Hida beef. It is worth a trip all the way out to Takayama to eat this beef.

Moving on, tomorrow we explore the rest of the delicious food of Takayama!

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