Out of all the towns and cities I visited in Japan, Takayama is one of my favorites. It is small enough to walk around easily but it has plenty of interesting things to see and eat. One can easily spend 2-3 days there. It gets a little touristy during the day as Japanese tourists come into town to visit Sanmachi Suji, a couple of streets consisting of historic wooden buildings that sell things such as local miso paste, sarubobo dolls (a faceless doll that is unique to Takayama), and Hida beef on sticks. But it’s very quiet and peaceful at night, perfect for an evening/night stroll.
The river that runs through Takayama carries water originating from the mountains outside of the town. It is clear, clean, and crisp-looking. I saw plenty of fish in it. There were floating fish kites above it. Staring at this scenery gave me a sense of peace. The water from those mountains is considered special by the locals and is used to make their famous local soba (buckwheat) noodles.
For more pictures of my 2018 trip to Japan, click here.