Takayama travels - part 2

I honestly meant to write this about two weeks ago but I got distracted. Some friends of ours moved away from Japan and back to the U.K. and therefore we were busy seeing them as much as humanly possible. The good bit is they live fairly near family so we will see them again....when we’re allowed to actually see people again that is. Isn’t COVID-19 just rewriting this whole year? Well luckily I’m here to distract you!!!

Takayama travels - part 2 (in case you didn’t guess from the title above).

After our travels to the teddy bear museum and the folk village I spoke about last time  we needed a little rest the next day. Sooooooo much walking. So we had a day exploring the town of Takayama itself. 

It’s a beautiful little town and has a specific area that has been preserved in it’s original state. In some streets you can only tell it’s 2020 by the road surface and people on their mobile phones (all wearing face masks and socially distancing, of course). It’s a lovely place although it was kind of spoiled by other people being there! (In fact I couldn’t get a photo without anyone in and in Japan it’s illegal to take photos of others without their knowledge). However, we wandered and crossed many a bridge of the pretty river. We also saw many, many shrines. In Japan there are many different shrines or mini temples everywhere and in an affluent or trading area like Takayama (which is known for its good timber and therefore skilled carpenters) many shrines and temples pop up to wish those travellers well and the traders well. Generally there’s one for everyone who wishes to pay their respects, say a prayer or make a wish. 

It was a lovely autumnal day and the sun was still warm so the kids asked if we could sit next to the river and have a paddle. That’s exactly what we did. My son was the first with his shoes off and he went the furthest too because he’d seen a plastic bag in the river and retrieved it. In fact all my kids are little eco warriors and are constantly picking up other people’s rubbish. I really need to start carrying some gloves and a rubbish bag with me everywhere I go! It’s so lovely to see how much they care and that they wouldn’t think of throwing rubbish in the river - it’s a totally alien concept to them. I love that they want to preserve the beauty of the world. And I loved our moment by the river. We all had a little paddle. The smallest one and I made our way carefully over some stepping stones, the fearless boy went off as far as he could go and our eldest took it easily because she had an infection on her toe that she didn’t want to get too wet. The water was freezing cold but the sun was warms and the water clear. Afterwards we all sat on the edge of the wall, letting our feet dry whilst throwing the newly dead leaves into the water to see how fast they would go.


After that was some lunch and an unfortunate incident for the vegetarian daughter when we discovered her meal had had chicken and shrimp stock in and non of us had realised until after she’d eaten it! I think she felt extra bad because she had enjoyed her meal! Poor lamb. I consoled her as best as we could and we said a thank you to the animals at the next little street temple which helped.

A bit of souvenir shopping was called for and we purchased a lot of Sarubobo. Now Sarubobo are a doll that is associated with Takayama and has been for many, many years. The basic premise is that grandmothers made these faceless red dolls out of scraps of material in order to give their grandchildren luck and their daughters in for a good marriage and an easy childbirth. It is not known for sure why they are faceless but it is suspected that because they were made of leftover cloth there was no need for them to be 100% accurate. Also, a common myth around Takayama itself is that the dolls made during WWII were left faceless because everyone knew it was a sad time and if there were no faces the owner of the doll could imagine what he or she liked. These dolls are associated with monkeys too as Sarubobo literally means baby monkey. We ended up buying many varieties as now they’re made in many colours to represent different facets of life. For example - blue is for luck in study or work, green for health, black to dispel bad luck or danger. We loved seeing all the different kinds, chatting to the shop owners about them and buying far more than we needed!

After we purchased half the town goods we went for a wander to a park and the castle ruins. The kids had a much needed run around the park whilst I had a much needed rest (where DO they get their energy?) and then we went for a wander in the woods and up to the castle ruins. The hilarious thing about this was that the castle ruins were literally one wall! The kids were a little disappointed or would have been if it wasn’t for one thing - bears. We saw many signs saying bears had been sighted and to make noise if you saw one. So I told the kids the opposite of what they usually hear - that they could be noisy. They loved this! Living in a country where you have to be very quiet in certain places the kids are bored of being told to be quiet. This was a welcome relief for them. Needless to say we didn’t see any bears.

The next day another wander round town and went to the market this time. Takayama morning market has quite a reputation as a good spot for tourists. So naturally we saw thousands of sarubobo for sale as well as local goods and produce. My favourite was an amazing coffee stall called Koma Coffee Works. It was run by two people and the coffee was delicious but not only that they made certain (short) coffees in these cookie cups. Basically these cups were lined with sugar to stop the coffee seeping straight into the cup. Also, if you drank the coffee and took it back they would fill the cup with whipped cream for free. Now I couldn’t eat the cup or the cream so my two daughters enjoyed sharing....or fighting over who would get what once y coffee was gone. I enjoyed the novelty and the delicious coffee. And our boy enjoyed climbing into a cave by the river in the sunshine. So we all had fun.



After coffee and playing in the sunshine we headed to the float museum. Takayama hosts one of Japan’s three most beautiful festivals- the Takayama Matsuri. Two festivals take place during the year, one in summer and one in autumn. We had missed the autumn one by a few days. The floats which are used during the festival are stored at the Takayama float museum. The floats are rotated as not all can be displayed at once so we only saw a few. I’m not going to post any pictures of these as the website does it far more justice than I can. Plus they explain how important the puppets are too. I have to say the float with the puppets was my favourite.

There was also the Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine within the grounds where some of the festival rituals are performed. It was a beautiful site with many mini shrines in the grounds for various different deities. The kids favourite was the shrine for all animals. They stood so quietly and prayed to our dear departed pooch and wished for health of all animals they know. The bit of the temple I liked was an area where you asked for health. But what you did was chew some paper and throw it onto the demon on the ceiling and the illness or ailment would leave you with the demon. I didn’t partake as I thought it wasn’t very hygienic during COVID times. Also, there were the thousands of wishes tied around ropes in trees and a hug tori gate as we walked away. A bonus site we weren’t expecting. I love these little things that crop up when you’re wandering around.

After the unfortunate incident for our vegetarian the day before we headed for the safety of a restaurant that boasted vegetarian and gluten-free options so we all had a good meal. So much walking over the last few days had really worked up an appetite. We then headed to the holiday apartment for a rest (nap in my case) before heading out again for our last night on the town. But more on that next time! Tune in for the next instalment.

Bye bye for now.