With its large historic district, Takayama’s a popular place to visit – and it was the main draw for me, as well. Wanting to spend time in a smaller city, I ended up spending a few days in Takayama and it was absolutely lovely. There’s a lot to see and the city is absolutely lovely.

Some of Takayama’s History

Takayama has been inhabited for thousands of years. Traditionally, Takayama is part of the “Hida providence” which is why you’ll commonly see “Hida Takayama” and some other town names with “Hida” in front. Its most modern form came around 1600. This was when the samurai Kanamori Nagachika essentially won Takayama and became its lord in 1585. After that, he built Takayama Castle and also the town, which was modelled after Kyoto. Unfortunately the castle was demolished in 1695 due to high expenses but many of the shrines and some of the buildings date to this period.

The Edo Shogunate (Japanese government) took control of Takayama in 1692. The city saw a lot of development and amassed a lot of land over the centuries but much of the city center with its charming old streets have remained intact. Much of it dates to about the 19th century.

The Takayama Festival

Much of the lure around Takayama is its two annual festivals or “matsuri,” the Spring and the Autumn festivals. The Spring festival is April 14-15 and the Autumn is October 9-10, so this was unfortunately something I missed by only a few weeks! It’s believed to have started in the 1650s and the main attraction for both festivals is the floats, or “yatai,” which are extremely large and exquisitely decorated. Many date back a few hundred years. There are a few places you can see the floats if you’re visiting when the festivals aren’t running: Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan and Matsuri no Mori.

What to See in Takayama Today

One of the most beautiful places in the city is Sakuraya Hachiman Shrine, which was built in its current form in the 17th century. It’s a beautiful traditional shrine in the woods, and it doesn’t even feel like you’re in the middle of a city. I also loved that here you can feed the koi fish.

As mentioned, the Takayama Festival is a huge part of Takayama’s culture. At the shrine you can visit Takayama Matsuri Yatai Kaikan. The festival floats are humungous and it’s something extra to see them in person and just their huge scale. There are about 4 floats on display at any given time and they change every few months, so you can always go back and see different floats. However it’s quite pricy for what you get at 1000 yen. You ticket also includes entry to the Sakurayama Nikkokan which has a large small-scale model of Nikko (a beautiful place in Japan I also recommend visiting).

There’s also a Matsuri no Mori museum that’s a bit outside the city center.

One of the most fascinating places to visit, in my opinion, is the Takayama Jinja which was the old administrative building for the city for a few hundred years. While it’s a cute building with a nice garden, the main draw was all the information inside detailing how the building would’ve functioned, what government officials did day to day, and also lots of tidbits on Takayama’s history. You could actually spend a lot of time reading all the information they have. It’s very informative.

Another place I recommend is actually free to visit – the Hidatakayama Town Museum which I’ve also seen referred to as the Museum of History and Art. In several rooms you’re told different aspects of the city’s history while being shown different decorative arts that correspond. They had a nice exhibit dedicated to what Takayama Castle would’ve looked like before it was destroyed, and some more interesting topics like, how did the fire department function before modern technology? It’s worth a stop in if you like history.

Next door is the Hida Takayama Activity and Exchange Hall which has craft workshops. If I didn’t see this so late in my visit, I totally would’ve inquired about taking a class there.

Another museum to visit that I didn’t is the Takayama Showa-kan Museum which is a a step back in time to the Showa period which was from 1926 to 1989. It looks like a fun museum but everything in Takayama seemed to cost 1000 yen and it was all adding up quickly.

One thing I did was take the trek up the mountains to the Takayama Castle Ruins which is up the Higashiyama Walking Course. There are bears in the area so it’s a good idea to bring a bell with you to ward them off, which you can buy at many different stores. It was a fairly strenuous trip up the mountain, and it felt like walking in the middle of the woods, but I finally got to the castle ruins and saw they are very ruined. Actually, it’s really just the stone wall. So it was a bit disappointing; however the views of the mountains from up here were nice. (And I needed the exercise.)

There are several nice temples to see along the Higashiyama Walking Course as well, which are a lot smaller and more tranquil than the Sakuraya Hachiman shrine. I got to see Soyuji Temple and then over to Hokkeji Temple which has some nice landscaping. I don’t think this is on the trail but nearby is Shoren-ji Temple (there may be more than one called that in Takayama) which seemed very deserted but had a nice intimate vibe. I imagine it’s what Chihiro first felt like when she discovered the abandoned park in Spirited Away!

Off the trail but closer to the main city is Gokoku Jinja Shrine which was nice as well. There are so many more shrines and temples to see in Takayama – these are just the ones I saw.

There are also a few house museums to visit. The Kusakabe House has some interesting architecture that you can see around Hida and Gifu. They also have a collection of craft art and an audio guide that explains what you’re seeing. It’s a bit expensive for what you see, though. The Yoshijima House is next door but it was closed during my visit. I also didn’t get to the Miyaji House but it looks less popular than the aforementioned two.

Unfortunately I did not get to the Hida no Sato Folk Village. But I did get to go to Shirakawa-go which is probably just as, if not more, exciting.

A fun experience I had was a visit to a sake brewery! Takayama has several sake breweries but the one I visited was Hirase Sake Brewery which is Takayama’s oldest, dating back 400 years. If you want to tour the brewery you need to make a reservation and they do fill up several days in advance.

However you can also do a 30 minute tasting, which is what I opted for. There are 27 different types of sake you can try! Obviously it would be a bit much to try them all in your allotted 30 minutes. But they have a very handy sheet on the differences in flavors of each sake and can also tell you a little bit about what to look for when choosing a sake. I highly recommend it!

One of the other great ways to immerse in Japanese culture is to rent a kimono. I did so during my first trip to Kyoto, and decided to do it again in Takayama. There are much fewer kimono rentals here and I chose Kimono Rental ICCA. They were so nice and you can see and reserve the kimono you want ahead of time. I absolutely loved the kimono I got and its beautiful autumnal colors!

What I also absolutely loved about Takayama was all the vegan options! There’s a surprising amount of vegan options for such a small city and I got to try some vegan soba and vegan hoba miso (a local specialty). Veganism isn’t common at all in Japan and I loved that restaurants went out of their way to help foreigners enjoy local flavors.

I mentioned a few times that Takayama’s a small city. It’s quite walkable though they do have a bus system if you want a ride. I think you can definitely see a lot in Takayama in a day, but I did enjoy staying overnight in a smaller place.

I’ve been to a decent number of places in Japan now and I have to say that Takayama is one of my favorite places. Obviously I do recommend a visit to see such a lovely place full of beautiful architecture, stunning mountains, and rich history. Definitely keep Takayama in your mind for your next trip to Japan!

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