Takayama

Takayama is famous for its well-preserved quarter with Edo-style streets. Sometimes called "Little Kyoto of Hida" (飛騨の小京都), the traditional townscape is a major attraction to visitors, only rivalled by that of Kanazawa among cities in the Chubu region.

Much of the city had been established when it had been a castle town surrounding the Takayama Castle (高山城) since the 15th century until the 18th century. The central Tokugawa shogunate then took over the control and demolished the castle. Over the period of some 200 years since then, the city saw development of the forestry industry and boasted the crafts made by its artisans. The art of woodcraft and other works of craftsmanship has then been passed over through the Meiji era to the present day.

Having a humid continental climate, there is a large variation in temperature in the city in summer, sometimes from 0 to 35 °C in a day. With much of the area close to or midst of mountains, winter brings constant snowfalls to the city, with temperatures sometimes falling below -10 °C.

Tourist office:

1 Hida Tourist Information Office, Hanasato-machi 5-51 (In the Hida Hotel Plaza, in front of JR Takayama Station), ☏ +81 577 32-5328, kankou@hida.jp. Daily 08:30-17:00. The staff speak English and are a mine of information for the area.

Tourist information site:

The local tourist association has a multilingual guide site.

Takayama is the major transport hub of the Hida region.

By train:

1 Takayama Station (高山駅). This station is on the JR Takayama Line, which has spectacular views of the valley and the Hida River below. Note that this station does not accept IC cards, and local line tickets have to be bought in cash. Thus, arrive sufficiently early not to be stuck in the queue right before your train departs. That also means that trips to Takayama must partly be paid in cash and don't allow for the usage of an IC card, like the local train from Toyama with transfer in Inotani. (updated Oct 2024)

The Hida (ひだ) limited express train runs from Toyama in the north, 1½ hrs (¥3,360), and Nagoya in the south, 2-2½ hrs (¥6,030). Local trains from Toyama take 2 hours, including a transfer at Inotani (¥1,690).

From Tokyo there are two equally viable routes: the Tokaido Shinkansen to Nagoya on the Nozomi (4-4½ hours) or Hikari (just over 4½ hours), or the Hokuriku Shinkansen to Toyama on the Kagayaki or Hakutaka (4 hours). Both routes are around ¥15,000. Search engines may find only the Tokaido route; try searching with a stop in Toyama, or experiment with the departure or arrival time.

From Kyoto, take the Tokaido Shinkansen to Nagoya, which takes 2½-3 hours (around ¥10,500). Alternately, one Hida leaves Kansai in the morning (#25 at 07:58 from Osaka Station) and returns in the evening (#36 at 15:38 from Takayama) using conventional lines. This is convenient because there are no transfers, and it's cheaper than the Shinkansen, but it's slower and no food or drink is sold on the train. Travel on this service from Kyoto takes around 4 hours (¥7,650), and from Osaka around 4¼ hours (¥8,300).