Arrival

One of the main goals for this trip was to see snow in Japan. Takayama definitely had plenty of that.

On average, temperature in late December- early January was:

Day: -5 to 5 degrees Celcius
Night: -10 to -2 degrees Celcius

Disclaimer: Numbers based on a very foggy memory of me checking weather forecasts.

Continuing from the previous blog, we arrived at Takayama late in the evening. Worn out from the travelling time, we proceeded to walk to our Airbnb accommodation.

We stayed with our Airbnb host, Masanori-san, who was there to greet us when we arrived. He had a small quaint house, filled with the most basic amenities. After showing us around, we unpacked and immediately asked the world’s most difficult question:

“What’s for dinner?”

Masanori-san was kind enough to recommend a local diner to us, and we had our first Japanese Tempura Udon experience…

We were not able to take photos of our food (or rather, we forgot) but if you ever visit Takayama please visit this small shop if you wish to try really good Tempura Udon.

 

After what was a very satisfactory meal, we decided to walk around to look for a convenience store.

We eventually found the convenience store, bought ice-cream, a few snacks, then headed back to our accommodation. Yes, you read that right. Ice-cream during a winter’s night is the best in Japan.

Masanori-san gave us a bunch of coupons for us to use at a nearby sento(communal bathhouse). We had a bit of time left before the bathhouse closed, so we decided to rush to get our shower before a good night’s rest!

Upon reaching the sento, we handed the coupons to the attendant and we proceeded to the changing room. There, we were greeted with a crapton of naked dudes wiping themselves down/getting ready for their bath.

Public baths usually have amazing shampoos, but I remember this particular one had none. You had to bring your own washing liquids. Which was perfectly fine since Masanori-san had already prepared 4 baskets filled with shampoo and shower gel for us. (shoutout to him he was a pretty good host)

So the idea was to wash ourselves off, then get a dip in the hot baths. We came out feeling incredibly refreshed, while suddenly gaining resistance to the cold weather that initially plagued us when we first arrived!

We headed back to our accommodation, but not before stopping by a random vending machine to get some awesome drinks. Japanese vending machines are great.

 

 

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What you can do in a day at Takayama

We woke up the next day, ready to head out to explore more of Takayama. The moment we stepped outside, we were greeted with dainty snowfall! Seeing actual snowfall for the first time was so exciting, the inner kid in me tried not to go crazy. We layered up and headed to the first stop of the day!

Miyagawa Morning Market

This market, situated beside the Miyagawa river, is visited by locals and tourists alike. The market has people selling groceries and food and there are 3 main things you have to try:

1. Takoyaki
2. Hida beef served in any form
3. NOIX de COCO

This was the first stall we visited in the market. Together with her daughter, this nice lady prepares uber-hot takoyaki that’s best enjoyed on a cold winter day. There’s just something about eating hot things during the winter that makes it extra special.

I put the first ball in my mouth, and i burned my tongue. This stuff is extremely hot, so best to let it cool for a bit before actually attempting to ingest it. The texture and flavours of the Takoyaki were incredible. Being in Malaysia, I’ve always felt that no Takoyaki stall could get the consistency of the ball right, as it always ends up super starchy. The octopus inside was soft, not rubbery, and a great filling accompaniment. At (¥)700 for 12 balls, you’d be crazy to skip this.

 

Takayama is one of the few places in Japan where Hida beef is accessible. Hida beef, unique to the Hida region, is the specific name given to beef from black-haired Japanese cattle that have been raised in Gifu Prefecture for at least 14 months. Hida Beef must be confirmed and certified as Yield Score of Grade A or B by the Hida Beef Brand Promotion Conference, and have a Firmness and Texture Grade of 5, 4 or 3, as per the Japan Meat Grading Association’s grading system. (info stolen from http://hidagyujapan.jp/index.php?lang=#About) 

In the market, we found many stalls selling Hida beef in steamed buns, skewers and croquettes. The beef had a very unique taste,

If you are a beef lover, you must must must must try at least one Hida beef delicacy. If you are like us, you’d try them all. If you’re rich, go to a Hida Beef Wagyu restaurant and eat a steak cut, it’ll probably change your life.

This shopkeeper had the funniest stoner face I’d ever seen, but he makes beef skewers from heaven. I didn’t want to chew the beef in my mouth because I wanted the taste to stay on my tongue forever.

This NOIX de COCO is pudding in a jar. You can have this hot, but I liked the pudding cold. It tastes great and for about (¥)500 or so, definitely worth trying!

 

Other notable delicacies to try:

• Egg Marshmallow
• Tayaki
• Mochi

 

We stumbled across a big souvenir shop. We went in.

It’s worth noting that Hida milk snacks are also available at most souvenir shops in the Hida region. They’re great souvenirs for friends/family!

The only thing that we discovered wasn’t worth its price tag was some Hida Beef Curry that Derek and Brandon bought. There was no beef in it. Only curry. And it costs (¥)1600. Yeah. Don’t get that stuff.

 

The Miyagawa river complimented our the morning market stroll. Pictures don’t do it justice, but I need to make this blog post interesting so here:

After a very good morning market visit, it was time to head on to another attraction!

 

Hida Sannogu Hie Shrine

When Kimi no Nawa (Your Name) was released in 2016, there were many picturesque landmarks depicted that were adapted from their real-life counterparts in Japan. This shrine was where where Mitsuha performs a Japanese traditional dance with her little sister in the movie. The walk up to the shrine was filled with sights of snowy trees and snowy pavements.

 

Snow was abundant. So Derek decided to stop every few minutes or so to collect snow, to build a massive snowball. He would do this for the remainder of the day.

Yeap. So this is the shrine where the dance occurred in the movie. Then we walked up.

These wooden plaques you see are called ema(picture horse). People write wishes on these plaques to be conveyed to the Gods. It’s a cool tradition and many of the wishes on the ema we saw here had cute drawings on them.

 

 

I gave up on the snowball contest, but I wanted to try a camera trick I saw a while back, so I got myself some snow and hey, presto! this was the result:

 

 

After having a ton of fun with snow, we headed on to our next stop, Nakabashi Bridge!

 

Nakabashi Bridge

We walked for about 15 mins, finally arriving at a very touristy spot. There were many people taking photos at the bridge because the view was crazy. The bridge itself is complimented by all 4 seasons, and is said to be even prettier at night.

Like food, Japan’s got a ton of spots with great scenery. This place was definitely one of them.

..and it was only just the beginning, as we went to other various spots that would leave us utterly speechless with how pretty they were.

We decided to walk further around the area, and eventually came across a very interesting alley.

 

Kami Sannomachi (Takayama Old Town)

Kami Sannomachi is a cultural conservation district where you can see what a merchant town looks like from the Edo period to the Meiji era (stolen from https://www.japanhoppers.com/). It’s a long street that is home to many sake breweries and food shops! It’s great to visit this place in the winter because breweries open up sake/wine tasting sessions for locals and tourists. We came across a brewery that was conducting a sake tasting session, but decided to find a place to eat first as drinking sake on an empty stomach is a very bad idea.

If you ever visit Japan close to the New Years, you’ll find most shops closed as, well, most of them have gone to prepare for New Years celebrations. Thankfully, we found this homey restaurant that served Sukiyaki, so we stopped there for lunch.

The pricing for this place was a bit on the high side, about (¥)1000+ per person. Nevertheless, it got the job done and our stomachs were full. So, off to the sake brewery!

 

To try the sake, we paid (¥)700 yen and the shopkeeper gave us a cup (which was a great souvenir too!) for us to pour each of the sake in. I could only manage to sample 4 before my head turned into a helium balloon. I never really cared much for the taste of strong alcohol but the aftertaste of the sakes were intriguing enough for me to try more.

This store also sold Hida Beef Jerky. I bought a box for (¥)1000. It was one of the more expensive souvenirs but the beef jerky was well worth it!

After the sake sampling, we spent a while more walking through the streets before we making our way towards another section of town.

 

Hida Takayama Museum of Art

This place was a bit of a letdown, but I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt and say we didn’t really know what to look for. I really wanted to do a museum and we found one, so I went in with Kenneth.

If you’re a fan of glassware and modern art, definitely give this place a go. Otherwise, explore the Hida folk village which probably has more to offer. Unfortunately, since it was getting late, we decided to call it a day and head back.

We picked up food from another nearby Lawson convenience store. Convenience store food is a great way to save on food, as you pay less but get really good meals. Over the course of the trip, we sampled everything convenience stores had to offer, but I can safely say that all of us enjoyed the Karaage (fried chicken) available at all convenience stores. Mainly Brandon and Derek. I believe Brandon spent close to (¥)10,000 on fried chicken alone.

 

 

We spent the rest of the night chilling in our room, tired after a long day of walking, while admiring the souvenirs we bought. Our first actual day of travelling gave us many laughable moments, like Derek’s snowball and my scarf being a snow magnet. We discussed our plans for the next day then called it a night, as we had to start the next day early in the morning.

 

Next part will be on Shirakawa-go, a mandatory destination for all who love winter!

 

man these blogs are getting harder and harder.
I’m actually having trouble trying to remember everything that happened 6 months ago