Weekend Activities

Located in Gifu Prefecture, and surrounded by some of Japan’s richest natural areas  just below the famous Northern Alps, Takayama is some what isolated and distant.  This isolation allowed the city to developed its own distinct culture that combines that of nearby Edo and Kyoto’s into a new and interesting way. Takayama has a very traditional feel to it and offers a wide variety of onsen hotels and guesthouses, local restaurants whose dishes are distinctly local; featuring traditional recipes made with local ingredients.  While visiting you can see many historic buildings, or shop for local handcrafted arts, etc. One thing not to miss is Shirakawago, a World Heritage Site located near Takayama.  Shirakawago Village is famous for traditional houses called A Gasshō-zukuri style of traditional minka homes.  Some of these traditional homes are hundreds of years old.  This is especially impressive when you consider that the distinctive shape of the dwellings was developed over time to withstand the substantial weight of the heavy snow falls that all but locks in the village in winter; how many tons of snow has a 250-year-old home had to bear?  The roofs of these homes are said to resemble hands clasped in prayer giving them the…