The old streets in the center of Takayama City are lined with quaint buildings built in the Edo and Meiji periods.
The three lines of the upper and lower towns, which flourished as merchant towns, are called "old townscapes". Among them, the area around Kamisannocho, Kamijinocho, and Kamiichinocho is also called "Mr./Ms. Street", and it is gaining popularity because the buildings of the Edo and Meiji periods are beautifully preserved and you can feel the real pleasure of the old townscape.
An irrigation canal flows under the eaves of a lattice, a sake palm made of cedar leaves hangs from the eaves of a sake brewery, and the large doors of townhouses and long-established curtains stretch the eaves, as if they were type-slipped in the Edo period. On this quaint street, there are many shops that have been renovated by making good use of old buildings, and you can see many signs that say "Landscape Design Award Winner".
There are coffee shops and restaurants with a good atmosphere, as well as shops selling crafts, so it's perfect for a walk.
There are also Mr./Ms.many shops where you can eat Hida Takayama's specialties, such as mitarashi dumplings, gohei mochi, and skewers of Hida beef, so you can enjoy a trip to dig deeper into Hida Takayama while slowly enjoying local gourmet food and thinking about the flow of time.
The Takayama Festival, one of the three major beauty festivals in Japan and designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, is also known as the Sanno Festival, and is an annual festival of Hie Shrine, the god of the southern half of the former Takayama Castle Town.
It is held on April 14 and 15 every year and is crowded with many tourists.
The origin of the festival is said to be during the time of the feudal lord Kanamori of Hida, and the gorgeous stalls are said to be around 1718.
The fine work that decorates the gorgeous stalls, the karakuri dolls that shine with their fine movements, the return cars with gimmicks, etc., are all wonderful and worth seeing.
Of course, it would be nice if you could go to see the festival if the timing is right, but since it is held once a year, it is not easy to do so. For such tourists, and to preserve the tradition of craftsmanship, the "Hida Takayama Festival Forest" was opened for a long time.
Located about 10 minutes by car from Takayama Station, it is a facility that conveys the elegance and craftsmanship of the festival, and food stalls are displayed in an underground dome made using the slope of the mountain, and you can appreciate it up close.
In addition, you can experience a karakuri puppet video, taiko drum performances, and various other experiences.
It is a valuable place where even those who could not come during the "Takayama Festival" can experience its splendor.
Located about 30 minutes by car from Takayama Station, Hida Senkoji Temple has a long history, and 1,600 years ago, Hida's wealthy clan double-sided shukusho opened this area, and around 1,200 years ago, Prince Shinnyo built the Hida Senkoji Temple in its current form.
Two-sided jukusho appears in a local legend, where he is depicted as a demon in Hida with two faces and four limbs in one torso. It is said in Senkoji that the two-sided jukusho rebelled against the Yamato Imperial Court, and was therefore subdued by the Naniwa no Neko Takefuru Kuma (Naniwa no Neko Takefurukuma) sent by the Imperial Court.
However, in the Hida region, it is said that he was a priest of the local shrine and a leader of agriculture, and it is said that he protected the area from centralization.
In the early Edo period, Enku, who is said to have carved 120,000 wild Buddha statues during his lifetime, visited and stayed in this area in his later years. You can see the double-sided statue carved at that time.
In addition, in the hall built in 1598, a stone double-sided shukusho is enshrined, which can also be seen.
It is a place where you can take a romantic trip back to the past by looking at the double-sided statue that conveys the power struggle that occurred in this area a long time ago and the thoughts of the people to the present.
Shirakawa-go is located about an hour west of Takayama City by car. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
It is a very valuable village where many of the more than 100 gassho-style houses of various sizes remain, which are rarely seen today, and people still live there.
In addition to the buildings and landscapes, the mutual support between the residents that has taken root here is highly valued, and by visiting this area, you can get a glimpse of it.
Shirakawa-go, which shows a different face with each of the four seasons throughout the year, brings great excitement no matter which season you visit.
Spend a relaxing time at a gassho-style guest house, experience daily life and activities, and enjoy a simple but rich meal. In addition, it is gaining popularity both in Japan and abroad as a place where you can experience the original scenery of the beautiful countryside of Japan, and experience actual agricultural work and daily work.ri
Hida Takayama and Okuhida Onsen are onsen towns centered on Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture, which is located in the center of the Japan archipelago.
Takayama City in Gifu Prefecture is a city built on a basin surrounded by steep mountains from east to west, rivers, canyons, and abundant nature to the north and south.
This Takayama City has been a prosperous city for a long time so that it was called "Hida's Little Kyoto", and the cityscape that has continued since the Edo period is a quaint and popular tourist destination. In addition, the Takayama Festival held in this area is listed as one of the "Three Great Beauty Festivals in Japan", and it is crowded with many people in April, when the festival is held.
The nine relatively new Onsen resorts around the city of Takayama are called Hida Takayama Onsen, and the five locations scattered in the mountains of the Northern Alps, about an hour's drive from downtown Takayama, are called Okuhida Onsen.
Hida Takayama Onsen is located in the city with easy access, and is popular with people who enjoy sightseeing scattered around Takayama City and its neighborhood. It is called "Hida's Little Kyoto" and is a place where you can enjoy traditional crafts and traditional food, and there are many historical sites and ancient temples, so you can enjoy a leisurely trip.
Due to its location in the mountains of the Northern Alps, many people stay a little longer in combination with mountain climbing, skiing, hiking, camping, and nature walks. This place with a good view in the middle of nature has many open-air baths, and bathing in the snow is also very popular in the winter season.
Nearby are Hida no Sato and Shirakawa-go, a World Heritage Site, and are attracting attention as a Onsen town where you can experience the good old Japan countryside.
Get to know HidaTakayama/Okuhida Onsen
Area guide
Hida Takayama Onsen (Takayama City)
Located in the northern part of Gifu Prefecture and close to Toyama Prefecture, Takayama City is a city surrounded by mountains such as the Northern Alps such as Mt. Yarigatake and Mt. Norikura, as well as abundant rivers. The Onsen that springs from nine sources in Takayama City are called Hida Takayama Onsen.
Takayama City is a rich city that has prospered from the timber of the mountains since ancient times, and it is a culturally rich city with many people coming and going. The quaint cityscape where you can feel the remnants of this remains even now, and it is called "Hida's Little Kyoto".
There are many historical sites and ancient temples with the scent of culture, including the Takayama Festival, one of Japan's three major beauty festivals held every April.
The history of Onsens is relatively new, and in 1989 and 1993, the springs were discovered and named Hida Takayama Onsen. It is speculated that the snowmelt water from the Northern Alps was heated underground and gushed out in Takayama City.
Due to the fact that it is a Onsen in the city with relatively easy access and because it was known as a tourist destination even before the Onsen was discovered, it is very popular and has become a Onsen resort visited by many people.
Enjoy shopping and gourmet food in the quaint streets of Edo, and visit historical sites and ancient temples with Onsens. If you go a little farther, you can also find Hida Village, which retains an atmospheric rural landscape, and Shirakawa-go, a World Heritage Site.
It can be said that it is a Onsen resort where you can enjoy and experience everything from the city with the culture of the good old Japan to the countryside with rural scenery.
Okuhida Onsen (suburb of Takayama City)
Okuhida Onsen is a Onsen resort consisting of five locations scattered among the mountains of the Northern Alps, about one hour east of the city of Takayama City by car.
Surrounded by beautiful and majestic 3,000-meter-high mountains such as Mt. Yarigatake, Mt. Norikura, and Hotaka, the five Onsen resorts consist of five Onsen resorts: Hirayu Onsen, Fukuchi Onsen, Shin-Hirayu Onsen, Tochio Onsen, and Shinhotaka Onsen.
Although it is not a very large area, there are more than 100 hot springs, and the average hot spring temperature exceeds 60°C, and the amount of hot spring gushing is 37,000 liters per minute, which is the third largest in Japan.
Okuhida Onsen has a long history, and it seems that many people have been visiting it as a Onsen resort for quite some time.
Nowadays, due to its location, it is becoming even more popular with many people who enjoy winter sports such as mountain climbing, hiking, nature walks, camping, and skiing in winter.
Since it is a place with a magnificent landscape, there are many open-air baths, and there are many free and inexpensive open-air baths and foot baths, so it is popular if you can enjoy it casually.
There are many gourmet foods that allow you to enjoy the blessings of the mountains such as wild vegetables, river fish, mushrooms, and game unique to the mountains, and it is also popular with people who want to escape from the hustle and bustle of the city and relax in the magnificent and deep nature.
Access
From Tokyo
< Shinkansen / Train > Tokyo Station (Tokaido Shinkansen Nozomi) → Nagoya Station (JR Tokaido Main Line Hida) → Takayama (about 4 hours 15 minutes) Tokyo Station (Hokuriku Shinkansen Kagayaki) → Toyama Station (JR Tokaido Main Line Hida) → Takayama (about 3 hours 40 minutes)
< Bus > Tokyo Station (JR Chuo Line) → Shinjuku Station West Exit (Highway Bus) → Takayama Nohi Bus Center (about 6 hours)
From Nagoya
< train > Nagoya Station (JR Tokaido Main Line Hida) → Takayama (about 2 hours 20 minutes)
< Bus > Nagoya Station Shinkansen Exit (Highway Bus) → Takayama Nohi Bus Center (about 2 hours 35 minutes)
From Osaka
< train > Osaka Station (JR Tokaido Main Line Hida) → Takayama (about 4 hours 15 minutes)
< Bus > Osaka Station (Highway Bus) → Takayama Nohi Bus Center (about 5 hours 20 minutes)
From Kanazawa
< Shinkansen / Train > Kanazawa Station (Hokuriku Shinkansen Kagayaki) → Toyama Station (JR Tokaido Main Line Hida) → Takayama (about 2 hours)
< Train > Kanazawa Station (IR Ishikawa Railway, Ainokaze Toyama Railway) → Toyama Station (JR Tokaido Main Line Hida) → Takayama (about 2 hours 30 minutes)
< Bus > Kanazawa Station West Exit (Highway Bus) → Takayama Nohi Bus Center (about 2 hours 30 minutes)
Water quality
There are four types of hot springs: simple hot springs, bicarbonate warfare, sulfur springs, and chloride springs.
Indications generally include autonomic instability, insomnia, depression, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, low back pain, neuralgia, frozen shoulder, bruises, sprains and other chronic stages, muscle stiffness in motor paralysis, sensitivity to cold, peripheral circulatory disorders, stomach upset, mild hypertension, glucose intolerance abnormalities, mild hypercholesterolemia, mild asthma, emphysema, hemorrhoidal pain, sleep disorders, post-illness convalescence, fatigue recovery, It is said to be effective in promoting health.
simple hot spring
It is colorless and transparent, tasteless and odorless, and has general efficacy. In the case of alkaline, it is sometimes highly sedative, effective against high blood pressure and skin diseases, and is expected to have a high skin-beautifying effect.
bicarbonate spring (baking soda spring)
It is a colorless and transparent hot spring. Because it contains baking soda, it softens the surface of the skin through the emulsification phenomenon, washes away fat and secretions, and makes the skin smooth and smooth after bathing. It is also called "beauty bath" because the skin is smooth as if it were washed with soap. Also, just by washing your hair and rinsing it with hot water, you can get a shiny and smooth finish. It is said to be effective for cuts, burns, chronic skin diseases, etc.
Sulfur Springs
It is characterized by a peculiar smell like a milky white and boiled egg. Since it has the function of dilating capillaries and coronary arteries, it can be expected to be effective against chronic bronchitis and arteriosclerosis. Since it also has a detoxifying effect, it is said to be effective for chronic skin diseases.
chloride spring
It is a colorless and transparent hot spring with a salty taste.
The salt prevents sweat from evaporating on the skin, so it is warm forever, and because it has a high heat retention effect, it is difficult to cool down and is also called "hot water". It is said to be effective for neuralgia, back pain, cold sensitivity, etc., so it is said to be effective for women's diseases.
History
Hida Takayama and Okuhida Onsen are often introduced as the same area today due to their close proximity, but they have different histories and have developed along different paths.
The history of Hida Takayama Onsen in Takayama City is relatively new as a Onsen resort, and in 1989, a spring gushing from Takayama City was discovered in 1993 and named Hida Takayama Onsen.
It is believed that the snowmelt water of the Northern Alps was heated underground and gushed out in Takayama City, and now nine hot springs have been found, and you can enjoy Onsens at more than 30 Onsens inns.
Although it has a short history as a Onsen resort, Takayama City has a long history, and some traces of people living in this area since the Jomon period have been found.
There are also burial mounds that are said to be from the Kofun period after that, and the "Japan Shoki" also describes the Hida incident and the "two-sided shukusho rebellion".
The stone statue of the double-sided jukusho that appears in that incident can be seen at Senkoji Temple in the city.
In the Nara period, the national government was established, and it flourished centrally in the Hida region. After that, Mr. Kanamori, who owned this area during the Tokugawa period, further promoted the development of the castle town, and it developed culturally.
After that, it became a direct territory of the shogunate, and it became a place where many people came and went. It is believed that Hida Takayama was under the direct control of the shogunate because it was rich in mines and forests, which are the resources of the mountains.
Okuhida Onsen is close to Hida Takayama Onsen, but the geographical conditions are quite different. This is a place that can be called a so-called secret hot spring located in the mountains of the Northern Alps (Hida Mountains), where the famous 3000m-class mountains are lined up.
The origin of Okuhida Onsen is not clearly known, but it seems that it has been used as a hot spring resort for quite some time. During the Sengoku period, a legend is still passed down that a soldier who followed Takeda Shingen was guided by a white monkey to discover a hot spring and take a bath to heal his fatigue.
The place where this Okuhida Onsen is located was in the middle of the mountain pass connecting Hokuriku and Edo, and it was also used by travelers who were relieving their fatigue.
In the latter half of the Edo period, the mountain was opened as a sacred mountain by Banryu Jojin, and many mountain worshippers began to visit.
In the Showa era, more and more people began to visit with the opening of ropeways and mountain buses, and it developed into a popular Onsen resort along with its magnificent nature.
The old streets in the center of Takayama City are lined with quaint buildings built in the Edo and Meiji periods.
The three lines of the upper and lower towns, which flourished as merchant towns, are called "old townscapes". Among them, the area around Kamisannocho, Kamijinocho, and Kamiichinocho is also called "Mr./Ms. Street", and it is gaining popularity because the buildings of the Edo and Meiji periods are beautifully preserved and you can feel the real pleasure of the old townscape.
An irrigation canal flows under the eaves of a lattice, a sake palm made of cedar leaves hangs from the eaves of a sake brewery, and the large doors of townhouses and long-established curtains stretch the eaves, as if they were type-slipped in the Edo period. On this quaint street, there are many shops that have been renovated by making good use of old buildings, and you can see many signs that say "Landscape Design Award Winner".
There are coffee shops and restaurants with a good atmosphere, as well as shops selling crafts, so it's perfect for a walk.
There are also Mr./Ms.many shops where you can eat Hida Takayama's specialties, such as mitarashi dumplings, gohei mochi, and skewers of Hida beef, so you can enjoy a trip to dig deeper into Hida Takayama while slowly enjoying local gourmet food and thinking about the flow of time.
Hida Takayama Festival Forest
The Takayama Festival, one of the three major beauty festivals in Japan and designated as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage, is also known as the Sanno Festival, and is an annual festival of Hie Shrine, the god of the southern half of the former Takayama Castle Town.
It is held on April 14 and 15 every year and is crowded with many tourists.
The origin of the festival is said to be during the time of the feudal lord Kanamori of Hida, and the gorgeous stalls are said to be around 1718.
The fine work that decorates the gorgeous stalls, the karakuri dolls that shine with their fine movements, the return cars with gimmicks, etc., are all wonderful and worth seeing.
Of course, it would be nice if you could go to see the festival if the timing is right, but since it is held once a year, it is not easy to do so. For such tourists, and to preserve the tradition of craftsmanship, the "Hida Takayama Festival Forest" was opened for a long time.
Located about 10 minutes by car from Takayama Station, it is a facility that conveys the elegance and craftsmanship of the festival, and food stalls are displayed in an underground dome made using the slope of the mountain, and you can appreciate it up close.
In addition, you can experience a karakuri puppet video, taiko drum performances, and various other experiences.
It is a valuable place where even those who could not come during the "Takayama Festival" can experience its splendor.
Hida Senkoji Temple
Located about 30 minutes by car from Takayama Station, Hida Senkoji Temple has a long history, and 1,600 years ago, Hida's wealthy clan double-sided shukusho opened this area, and around 1,200 years ago, Prince Shinnyo built the Hida Senkoji Temple in its current form.
Two-sided jukusho appears in a local legend, where he is depicted as a demon in Hida with two faces and four limbs in one torso. It is said in Senkoji that the two-sided jukusho rebelled against the Yamato Imperial Court, and was therefore subdued by the Naniwa no Neko Takefuru Kuma (Naniwa no Neko Takefurukuma) sent by the Imperial Court.
However, in the Hida region, it is said that he was a priest of the local shrine and a leader of agriculture, and it is said that he protected the area from centralization.
In the early Edo period, Enku, who is said to have carved 120,000 wild Buddha statues during his lifetime, visited and stayed in this area in his later years. You can see the double-sided statue carved at that time.
In addition, in the hall built in 1598, a stone double-sided shukusho is enshrined, which can also be seen.
It is a place where you can take a romantic trip back to the past by looking at the double-sided statue that conveys the power struggle that occurred in this area a long time ago and the thoughts of the people to the present.
Shirakawa-go
Shirakawa-go is located about an hour west of Takayama City by car. It was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
It is a very valuable village where many of the more than 100 gassho-style houses of various sizes remain, which are rarely seen today, and people still live there.
In addition to the buildings and landscapes, the mutual support between the residents that has taken root here is highly valued, and by visiting this area, you can get a glimpse of it.
Shirakawa-go, which shows a different face with each of the four seasons throughout the year, brings great excitement no matter which season you visit.
Spend a relaxing time at a gassho-style guest house, experience daily life and activities, and enjoy a simple but rich meal. In addition, it is gaining popularity both in Japan and abroad as a place where you can experience the original scenery of the beautiful countryside of Japan, and experience actual agricultural work and daily work.ri
