Takayama (高山) is a city located in Gifu, Japan. Takayama is best known for its inhabitants’ expertise in carpentry. It is believed carpenters from Takayama worked on the Imperial Palace in Kyoto and on many of the temples in Kyoto and Nara. The town and its culture, as they exist today, took shape at the end of the 16th century, when the Kanamori clan built Takayama Castle. About a hundred years later the city came under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate. However, the high altitude and separation from other areas of Japan kept the area fairly isolated, allowing Takayama to develop its own culture over about a 300-year period [ref]. The Hida Folk Village (飛騨の郷) is an open air museum of close to 30 old farmhouses illustrating the traditional architectural styles of the mountainous regions of Japan. Of particular interest are the thatched and shingled roofs, such as the gasshō-zukuri-styled buildings. Many of the buildings were brought to this location from their original sites in order to preserve them. The village is quite picturesque, as it is built on a hillside overlooking the Takayama Valley and surrounds a large pond. The structures in the village range from 100 to 500 years in age. Many are open to perusal and are filled with artifacts from their respective time periods, including spindles, silk worm raising artifacts, cooking utensils, and clothing. There is also a workshop in the village illustrating how many of Japan’s famous handicrafts are made, including wood carving, tie-dying, weaving, and lacquering [ref].
I’d move to Takayama tomorrow, if the wife would come. Many people dislike cities like Takayama seeing them as living museums instead of living cities (see the attitude people even in Kyoto have about it’s dwindling historic streets). Perhaps it’s somehow artificial, but I think even most Japanese (and a good number of foreigners) would rather live in the historic district of Takayama than just about any neighborhood Yokkaichi, Mie, no?
I hear you ! Yes, I totally agree. My dream is to have an old house but equipped with all modern amenities.