Snapshot: Hida Folk Village

Wintertime at the Hida Folk Village outside Takayama, Japan.

After two weeks of all cities, all the time, it was a bit of a relief to arrive in Takayama, a small town* in the Japanese Alps. We’d seen Japan’s hypermodern side on display in Tokyo and learned about its 20th century history in Hiroshima. In Takayama, we would get in touch with its rural past. Takayama has preserved a historic district where dark, low wooden buildings allow you to imagine that you are back in a pre-electronics, pre-convenience store Japan. During January and February, you can tour hundred-year-old, low-tech sake breweries still operating in their original locations. And if you venture a half-hour outside of town, the Hida Folk Village has collected examples of old-style farmhouses from around the area. The gassho zukuri houses, like those pictured above, were designed with steeply slanting straw roofs to keep snow from accumulating on top. Today, they are filled with old agricultural implements, silk-making equipment and household tools to show how Japanese villagers lived in the 18th and 19th centuries. Even on a short tour of Japan, this was a worthy stop — and, in winter, it was full of opportunities for frolicking in the snow!

Written from the road in Osaka, Japan, en route back to China (by boat!). If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe to my RSS feed to receive my latest updates! For more great travel photos, check out DeliciousBaby’s Photo Friday.

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Tagged as: blogsherpa, Central Honshu, Japan, Photos, snapshot, Takayama