Osaka to Takayama 🚝

I took about three photos in Osaka. There was something about it that just wasn’t getting the shutter moving. Maybe it’s not a great place to visit in February. Great place for shopping though.

This may be a good moment to mention trains. The trains in Japan run like the hands of a watch. You could probably keep time just by watching the trains. When the train arrives at the station you have about sixty seconds to two minutes to board before it leaves. Everyone waits in a very nice orderly line in the special designated paths for your designated car. Culture shock.

We got to Takayama in the evening, and our Airbnb host insisted on picking us up from the train station. She had a sign that said “Aaron” and there’s no photo of it so you’ll just have to believe me.

I found out about Takayama while flipping through a guide book I picked up at the library. I read that it is historically famous for the quality of the trees and talent of the oval woodcarving artisans. That’s about all I needed to make it a trip requirement.

Takayama is tucked away in the Japanese alps. As such, we were back in the snow. The architecture speaks to the trees and talent with very well preserved buildings dating back to the 1600s. The roofs are rounder and raw wood is shown off everywhere, with little adornment needed on the natural beauty.

It’s a small town, but walking through it is a feast for the eyes. So much beautiful woodwork on every home, and quite a few carved deities stand on their pedestals waiting to greet you.

Takayama is built along a river, which is becoming a noticeable theme here. There are canals everywhere, with warm water running through small channels along the sides of the streets. In winter the river is not too deep, with carp visibly swimming in the town center. It is clear that the river gets huge, most likely in the spring after the snow melt covers the banks with rapids we can only dream of (conjecture).

There are many Tanuki statues, another recurring theme. Tanuki are unique statues coming in a variety of sizes representing the Tanuki, which is a Japanese raccoon dog. It’s a real creature, the statues look nothing like it.

Different ones have different meanings but they are generally symbols of good fortune and protection for the home. Different attributes like big bellies or large testicles add on additional layers.

The food in Takayama is also very good. There are many local specialties including Hida beef, and Hoda Tofu. You can’t get either from a vending machine but there are lots of vending machines for snacks and drinks as always. Not sure what I will do back home without them.

The blending of old and new is a little different here. In most of the central areas the only “new” thing you can see are cars. The old architecture is remarkably preserved. Our Airbnb was an old building in the historic district that had been modernized in some ways internally with mini splits and a fancy shower, but from the outside you would never know.

Before catching our train, Lukas and I made a quick detour to the Hikaru Museum. It was a forty minute walk into the hills, and when we got there it seemed closed. It turns out the museum is almost entirely under ground.

The building was breathtaking. It is built around a central indoor courtyard with a pyramid roof.

I could have come to the museum just to enjoy the building. The fountain in the middle of the courtyard can be heard in every room on that main floor, which doesn’t really make sense. Lukas put it well, it feels like surround sound water.

The main draw to go was the opening of a new exhibition of Hokusai’s thirty-six views of Mount Fuji. An amazing print collection including the world famous huge wave.

As we stepped out of the shockingly awe inspiring subterranean home of arts we were greeted by a sunny day and clear skies all the way to mountains we had not yet seen.

As I write this now we are on the train to Nagano, and then quickly transferring to Tokyo. We will hopefully be enjoying our own thirty-six views of Mount Fuji from the western side of our train car in the next few hours.