A 2-minute walk from JR Takayama Station
A 2-minute walk from JR Takayama Station
Located in the center of the Chubu region, Hida Takayama makes it possible to see a lot of the Chubu and Hokuriku regions.
Here are some recommended ways to enjoy a 3-day/2-night stay at our hotel.
01
Leaving Toyama
Leaving and returning to Toyama, head out on a trip that brings you in touch with the warmhearted handicrafts of Hida Takayama and life in a mountain village, traveling around the three areas of Toyama, Hida Takayama, and Okuhida.
| 9:00 | Okuhida Hot Springs |
|---|---|
| 14:00 | Workshop Shizukuyo |
| 17:00～ | Our hotel’s recommended plan |
| 18:30 | Dekonaru Yokocho |
9:00
Arrive at Toyama Airport and Toyama Sta
Get a rent-a-car, and the first place to go is the World Heritage Site Gassho Style Village
10:30
Shirakawa-go Gassho Style Village
Called “a scene out of Japan’s past,” Shirakawa-go is an actual living community where you can get in touch with Hida’s farming culture.
A hundred or so Gassho Style Houses still remain, and the knowledge and traditions of their ancestors’ way of life has been carefully passed down, linking generation to generation.
On the way out to Shirakawa-go, you can also stop by the Gassho Style Villages of Ainokura and Suganuma in Gokayama, Toyama Pref. Bird songs and babbling streams. The quiet, idyllic scenery is bound to loosen your heartstrings.
Exit the highway at the Hida-Kiyomi Interchange, and head for Hida Furukawa
14:00
Wooden furniture and knickknacks
kino workshop
Standing among expanses of rice fields in Hida Furukawa, where the ridges of the Northern Alps are particularly lovely, is the workshop/gallery of the woodworking Kataokas.
With “a life with wood” as their theme, they strive to make wooden furnishings and knickknacks that will become part of daily life, growing even more beloved with long use.
All these pieces that capitalize on the natural tones and character of the wood are the product of a relentless inquisitiveness and passion for wood.
Nesting boxes with beautiful wood grain. Little dishes to showcase your cooking at New Year’s, or when you go out for cherry blossom viewing or a Sports Day picnic.
Canisters in a wide range of colors, and it’s fun to imagine what to put in them. There are unusual types of wood like reddish brown Chinese mahogany, and grayish green Japanese bigleaf magnolia, too.
A wooden brooch with a wild bird motif.
Pin it to your favorite clothes or hat.
Boards stacked in the Kataokas’ work area.
After spending a year as logs, the wood they use goes through a drying process before it is finally lumber.
Husband Kiyohide mainly does designs and cutting, and his wife Noriko handles finishing, assembly, and applies oil finishes, and the couple’s living space on the second floor is also a proving ground for their prototypes.
In the “Hida Workshop Tour” held every Fall, the second floor is open as well as the first. In addition to wood furniture and other items by Mr. and Mrs. Kataoka, you can glimpse a life surrounded by architecture, glass, ceramics, and more lovingly handcrafted by their friends.
By all means, pay a visit to this workshop to see items you will want to cherish for years to come.
kino workshop
〒509-4211
490 Furukawacho-taie, Hida, Gifu
To meet even more Hida Takayama artisans
15:30
In a traditional house built about 150 years ago in the Hida mountain village, this shop deals in folk art and old books and daily utensils. The shop is filled with items the proprietor fell in low with when visiting their makers. The second-floor attic has an old book corner collecting the work of humanists. In a unique touch, each and every volume includes a hand-drawn illustration and comment.
Yawaiya
〒509-4121
1372-2 Kokufucho-utsue, Takayama, Gifu
A collection of miscellaneous daily goods from all over Japan.
Go south on Takayama Kokufu Bypass down to Takayama Station.
It’s finally time to check in to the hotel
17:00
With day 1 of your trip at an end, check in to the hotel.
17:30
Large hot-spring baths with a garden drawing water from Hida Takayama Hot Spring. Look out at the garden that changes with the seasons and the aroma of Japanese cypress will make you feel refreshed in this bath.
18:00
Relish local Hida Takayama cuisine
Adorned with soft lantern light, houndstooth partitions and warm orange sofas, this restaurant offers local Hida Takayama cuisine.
All the dishes include 3 appetizers and sashimi (drinks not included)
Choose your favorite from the 5 main dishes.
Dinner is a set of appetizers and sashimi, a main dish, and a buffet of Japanese and western food, with the theme being “feast in a castle town.” In addition to Hida beef grilled with miso on a hoba leaf or sukiyaki, you can also satisfy yourself with dishes representing local Hida Takayama cuisine.
20:30
Relax with a movie in your room after dinner.
Login to a video content service like YouTube or Netflix and enjoy your favorite movies or music.
Pictured is an example of a Stay Premier Twin.
7:00
A satisfying country breakfast
With the theme of “morning in a mountain village,” we have prepared a breakfast that delivers the warmth of the country with local cuisine passed down by mothers in the area.
An example of Japanese dishes
An example of western dishes
Switch yourself on with coffee after your meal
Drive out to Okuhida Hot Springs in Nagano.
9:00
Okuhida Hot Springs
Nestled in the bosom of the Northern Alps, the hot springs area collects the rustic beauty of 5 hot springs: Hirayu, Fukuchi, Shin- Hirayu, Tochio, and Shin-Hotaka.
The color of the water varies depending on the water qualities, and you can enjoy baths in a variety of hues, such as clear cobalt blue like a crystal stream or cloudy green-brown baths.
In addition to being able to use the outdoor bath at Hirayu Hot Springs for a small donation, you can also relax around the hearth, eat and admire the farming equipment at the attached Hirayu Farm Museum.
From Hida-Kiyomi Interchange Okuhida Hot Springs, continue on Route 156 for about 40 minutes.
Head to southeastern Takayama, with expanses of orchards and fields.
14:00
Pottery workshop
Workshop Shizukuyo
Blue that catches the eye, like a tiny universe.
In a quiet farming area in the suburbs of Takayama city, ceramic artist Tadahiro Nakanishi has his workshop.
Mr. Nakanishi’s masterpieces—both his striped cups, having fine lines etched one by one with a stylus and filled with slip, and his blue glaze plates round and square—are vessels for everyday life, with all consideration given to their familiar feel and nice fit.
Mr. Nakanishi originally made them as “artworks” with the wood kiln, but as he pursued his own direction, he noticed they were simple yet charming items, vessels imbued with a “practical beauty.”
At present, in addition to the thickness and angle of the handles and lip, he strives for a nice feel for the cups he mainly crafts and a center of gravity that will make tipping them difficult. This design, born of trial and error in everyday use, would fit naturally into any scene, regardless of the style.
In front of the workshop. A life filled with the lights and sounds of nature is the essence of calm.
Sometimes his beloved cats make an appearance in his work area, with its wood stove.
Workshop Shizukuyo
〒506-0817
1711-1 Yamaguchimachi, Takayama, Gifu
Your second day’s travels at an end, return to the hotel.
17:00
The first half of your trip now over, wash two days’ clothes in your room.
For your convenience, enough detergent for one load is included.
Guest rooms in our hotel come equipped with a single-machine washer/dryer. You can wash and dry with the press of a single button. Enjoy a pleasant trip with less baggage than normal.
We also have some rooms without washer/dryers.
17:30
Before strolling around Takayama, why not take in the galleries on floors 3 through 8 of our hotel? We introduce both traditional crafts such as Hida woodworking, Hida leather, and quilting and their production methods through cooperation with workshops in Hida Takayama.
Your second night, feel the air out on the streets of Takayama
18:30
About 20 pubs are packed in this gourmet side street. With a wide variety of reasonably-priced food and drinks, it’s perfect for hitting one pub after another. There is also an old-fashioned shooting game and shuriken range.
Enjoy a night in Takayama at the food stalls where locals and foreigners alike congregate.
Dekonaru Yokocho
〒506-0017
24 Asahimachi, Takayama, Gifu
6:30
The last day you will include eating as you walk around, and you can make a simple breakfast in your room’s kitchenette. Something simple, with ingredients and pickles procured in the shopping district.
Our hotel offers rooms with kitchenettes. In addition to kitchenware, we provide ingredients and detergents, so you can easily prepare something in your room.
Check your bags at the front desk, and set off to see Takayama’s famous morning market
7:30
Miyagawa Morning Market
Day 3 will be spent strolling around Takayama city. First, a visit to “Miyagawa Morning Market,” one of Japan’s 3 great morning markets. Rows of white tents along the Miyagawa River sell a variety of goods, such as traditional Hida Takayama foodstuffs and pickles, flowers, and folk art.
There are also shops where you can get coffee and sweets to go, and you can enjoy walking and eating as you search for souvenirs.
Hida Takayama Yoshima Farm, which handles vegetables grown organically, without pesticides, and additive-free processed food. Some of their fans visit here every month.
Pesticide-free vegetables bottled within an hour of being picked. Our hotel’s gift shop also sells this vegetable oil paste.
Encountering freshly-picked produce at the morning market is what makes it “the local kitchen.” And there are samples of the fruit for you to try.
“Fujimiya” is a dango specialty shop that has done business for two generations by the Kajibashi Bridge spanning the Miyagawa River. They offer Takayama favorites mitarashi-dango and goheimochi freshly-cooked.
8:30
Strolling around Old Town
The signs and noren curtains of long-standing shops line tasteful streets styled after those of Kyoto by Nagachika Kanamori, first lord of the Takayama clan.
Three streets in Kamimachi and Shimomachi, built in those days as a merchant ward, are now called “Old Town,” which is one of Takayama city’s great tourist spots.
To Kami-sannomachi, where there are rows of Kyoto-style townhouses with red color lattice
9:00
Coffee shop and block print galleryHida Woodblock Cafe Baren
A block print coffee house making use of the oldest merchant house in Kami-sannomachi, built in 1835.
The shop takes its name from “baren,” a tool for rubbing wood block prints, and it promotes the charm of block prints deeply rooted in life in Hida Takayama, as well as Takayama’s history and culture.
A special seat by the second-floor window, looking out at Old Town through a lattice. You will encounter various works on the tables, walls, and all over the shop.
The atrium is dominated by a huge piece of art created by local junior high students in the 1970’s to mark their graduation.
The shop is decorated with nearly 50 pieces of art by local artists, many of which may be purchased.
High quality wood and sanchu washi epitomize the thriving paper making in Hida Takayama.
You can see block prints of familiar daily life, including the “ema” at the shop’s entrance. Mr. Nakamura, the owner and a former teacher, personally taught block printing to local children.
Why not catch your breath here in this soothing space, where you can feel Hida Takayama’s block print culture up close?
Hida Woodblock Cafe Baren
〒506-0846
107 Kami-sannomachi, Takayama, Gifu
After taking a break with a cup of coffee and the “chatsu” sweets they’re famous for, head to the souvenir shop diagonally across the street
10:00
Woodblock print plush toys and block print accessories specialty shopSumishin Shoten
The shelf under the eaves packed with plush toys of zodiac animals.
These animals are small enough to fit, and if your eyes meet theirs, you won’t be able to stay away.
That is exactly the sort of charming block printed goods this shop specializes in.
On entering the shop, there are the zodiac animals, wild birds and fish, and plush toys of all colors packed in tightly, greeting you with adorable expressions. “Woodblock print plush toys” are an item like no other, designed and developed exclusively by shinkogei. The paper bags and little boxes that hold the goods are also original creations. The year the plush toy of a boar was chosen for design of a New Year’s stamp, they even made a novelty box for Takayama Post Office.
Different specialists handle the separate steps of dyeing, sewing, and stuffing, passing the work like a baton to make the finished plush toy.
Please ask the owner, Mr. Sumi, about his products.
Their famous zodiac animal series. The rabbit and mouse are particularly popular.
Sumishin Shoten (Shinkogei craft specialty store)
〒506-0846
8 Kami-sannomachi, Takayama, Gifu
The Old Town neighborhood is also the perfect spot for walking and eating a snack!
Once you’ve bought your souvenirs, satisfy your tummy with such renowned Takayama treats as Takayama ramen or Hida beef nigiri.
Your trip at an end, head back to the hotel once more
12:30
Were you thoroughly satisfied with your trip to Hida Takayama?
Our entire staff looks forward to your next visit.
Check your bags in our hotel lobby before or after your stay.
And feel free to enjoy your travels unhindered.
Hida Takayama has a variety of charming spots.
Please see the local sightseeing page for more details.
