Takayama: Sleepy Town

Our trip to Takayama was in late November – rainy and cold. But I still loved every minute of it. I loved that the town was quiet and was devoid of crowds, and I especially loved the ryokan we stayed at! Funnily though, we still managed to bump into fellow Singaporeans there!

Where We Went To

Hida Folk Village

We took a bus to Hida Folk Village after coming back from Shirakawa-go, which was dumb of us. You can see why when I finish my post on the village.

Anyway, it was raining (again) when we reached Hida Folk Village.

Somw of the huts were moved from Shirakawa-go, hence our aforementioned stupidity. Aside from the huts, there were some details that differed from Shirakawa-go. There was a resident swan, for one.

Careful, it might bite!

Another difference was that there was a little workshop (Hida Takayama Crafts Experience Centre) where you could learn Takayama folk crafts. You could learn anything from making a Sarubobo doll to crafting with straw. We had to try one! We decided on making our own rice crackers.

Our teacher wasn’t the most proficient in English but she was so cheerful and we managed to understand each other. It was blissful sitting so closely to the stone ‘oven’ since it was freezing outside.

We made 10 crackers each in both salt and soya sauce flavours. Mine definitely turned out better than WJ’s, teehee!

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Tempura Ebihachi

Dinner at Tempura Ebihachi was awesome. The chef taught us how to eat tempura in different ways – with soya sauce, with a red powder, with salt, or mixed. It was delicious, to say the least. Plus, we got a little souveneir when we left! He gave us a folded origami crane to keep.

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Sarubobo Doll Shopping

Since Sarubobo dolls were such a common sight in Takayama, we decided to head to an official Sarubobo shop. Did you know that Sarubobo dolls have different colours to bring different luck? Red is the basic colour, bringing all kinds of luck. Then there’s pink for love, yellow for money, and plenty of other colours.

I bought a red one for myself, because I need all the luck I can get!

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Old Town

The official Sarubobo shop is close to the Old Town. We went exploring there until it poured cats and dogs and we had to take shelter at the nearest cafe!

Thank goodness it served a delicious omurice and piping hot scones!

WJ had fun sake-tasting at one of the few sake breweries there. Takayama is home to many old sake breweries as sake is one of its specialities!

We’d initially wanted to head to the morning markets near the Old Town to take a look, but… The bed held onto us and we couldn’t get up in time! We reached the market as they were packing up. They close at 12 noon, so be sure to set your alarm!

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Leaving Takayama

On the day we left for Nagoya, it started snowing while we were having lunch. Tiny snowflakes came down like falling petals, but within the span of 30 minutes, it became a downpour. Signs were covered in snow and people walking by suddenly had white hair. It was fascinating to see the change!

Unfortunately, because we had a train to catch, we couldn’t stay around to have fun in the snow. But I was freezing anyway! I was definitely not prepared for any snow.

We took the Wide View Hida Limited Express train to Nagoya and admired the winter wonderland for the first part of the journey. It seemed like it had been snowing for awhile at some parts!

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Where We Stayed At

I’m going to gush about our place. We stayed at Ryokan Seiryun Hotel, which was the best accommodation of our entire Japan trip.

Look at the size of the room! After staying in tiny hotel and B&B rooms previously, this felt like a palace. We also got a lot of freebies, like beef crackers every day (which we unfortunately didn’t get to enjoy since we don’t eat beef) and unlimited green tea in the room. We spent both our nights there watching hilarious Japanese variety shows and sipping our hot green tea.

There was also a small onsen separated by each gender. I couldn’t go as I was having cold rashes, so only WJ enjoyed himself while I stayed in the room eating snacks!

And look at the bed! Tatami mats on the floor with fluffy comforters. We slept like babies.

At S$383.52 for 2 nights, it’s considered one of the cheaper ryokans around!