History / Culture / Tour Spots in Takayama Area

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Category

Travel / Tourism

History / Culture / Tour

Takayama Jinya

4.0

1116 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Hachikenmachi 1-5

Takayama Jinya was where prefectural governors and deputies exercised government since Hida was put under direct control of the Shogunate in 1692. The purpose of direct jurisdiction was access to the abundant timber and underground resources. After the Meiji Restoration, this building was also used as the Takayama prefectural government building. In order to conserve Takayama Jinya, 16 years of repair and reconstruction work were undertaken and were completed in 1996. There were 60 regional headquarters and sub-headquarters nationwide at the end of the Edo period, but the Takayama Jinya is the only building left in existence today. Takayama Jinya has been certified with two stars in the Michelin Green Guide Japan.

Fantastic experience on governor housing. It is very educational and could be boring to some. Enjoy the little garden. Quite a historical moment.
Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall

4.0

621 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Sakuramachi 178

The Takayama Festival is one of Japan’s three great Hikiyama Festivals and registered a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. This hall has a standing exhibit of yatai, the gorgeous floats that are the festival’s main attraction. It’s on the precincts of Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine, at the center of the festival action. Four of the 11 yatai used in the fall’s Takayama Festival are on display, and they change them annually in March, July, and November. They also maintain a TV room where you can watch a video of the festival, as well as a reference area with festival paraphernalia and documents. It’s a great way to learn about the festival’s history and happenings in detail.

Interesting exhibition of some of the floats used in April and October. Glad we did it but it only takes 20 minutes to view the floats. You are given headphones which enhances the experience.
Takayama Museum of History and Art

4.0

160 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Kamichinomachi 75

The Takayama Museum of History and Art in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture has a collection of around 75,000 items relating to folk traditions, of which 900 are on permanent display. There are 14 display rooms with exhibits focusing on how the castle town developed and the unique culture of its residents; topics covered by the displays include the Takayama Festival, “machiya” (traditional wooden townhouses), the creation of the castle town, famous writers and artists that had a connection to the Takayama area, and the famous monk and Buddhist statue carver Enku, who also had a close connection with the Hida area. The buildings in which the Museum is located were originally warehouses, built from Japanese Cypress wood, belonging to the Nagata family of merchants; they are highly atmospheric. There is no charge for entry to the Museum.

One of the few attractons open for Covid. I didnt expect much but was greatly surprised at how long I stayed here. I highly recommend. Quite a bit of English.
Takayama Showa Museum

4.5

136 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Shimoichinomachi 6

"Takayama Showakan is an indoor museum with displays that recreate the retro townscape of the late 1950s and early 1960s. It is located near the Yasukawa Intersection along National Route 158, which bisects the entertainment district of the city of Takayama. Aspects of the life and culture of that era are faithfully portrayed, including old-style candy stores and hostess bars. Looking at the actual advertising boards from that era, visitors feel as if they have traveled back in time. Another feature of this museum is that visitors can touch and handle actual artifacts of the period and ride vehicles that are placed along the ""street."" Of course, photography is allowed. Materials concerned with pro wrestling and World War II give visitors a full sense of what life was like back then."

Dont miss this gem if you are in Takayama. It made our little family of 4 step back in time. You can touch objects, enter recreated rooms and shops and get lost in the past for a bit. If you have...
Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine

4.0

168 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Sakuramachi 178

The Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine is a Shinto shrine in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture that is dedicated to the tutelary deity of the area. According to tradition, the origins of the Shrine date back to the reign of the Emperor Nintoku, when Prince Naniwa-neko Takefurukuma no Mikoto, who had come to the area to subjugate an evil monster, prayed for victory at this site. The Shrine is closely associated with the Autumn Festival that is one of the two Takayama Matsuri (Takayama Festivals), the other being the Spring Festival that is associated with the Hie Shrine; the Takayama Matsuri has been designated as a National Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property. Some of the “Yatai” (decorated floats) used in the Takayama Matsuri procession are on display in the Takayama Festival Floats Exhibition Hall within the Shrine precincts (the floats on display are rotated), giving visitors the opportunity to view the magnificent decoration, which is a tribute to the skill of Hida region craftsmen, from close to.

This is a very quiet Shinto Temple, easy walk from the station (10-15 minutes) walk. A long the lane leading to the temple are old Japanese house. The temple is free and very nice surrounding. Quiet...
Yoshijima Heritage House

4.0

99 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Oushinmachi 1-51

This old kominka house was the residence of the Yoshijima sake brewing family for generations. It has been designated a nationally Important Cultural Property. A large ball of cedar twigs hangs from the eaves above the entrance, and a noren curtain at the door has the two stripes of the family crest. The inner hall and entrance hall have a high vaulted ceiling, and the main pillar and other woodwork displays splendid craftsmanship. The interior gives you a real feel of its long history, especially in the drawing room where Toko Shinoda's work is on display.

Almost everybody come to Takayama just for the old town lane, and you will expect the crowds especially at morning and afternoon time. Almost a long queue in the food area and the old houses there...
Hikaru Museum

4.5

85 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Nakayamamachi 175

This museum is in a residential area of Nakayama-machi, Takayama City, bordered by the Kawakami River and National Route 41. Its exterior really stands out. Made of stone, it’s built to look like a Mesoamerican pyramid with a temple atmosphere. It primarily exhibits ancient artifacts and works of art like Japanese paintings, ukiyoe prints, and crafts. There are lots of displays that kids will like, including realistic models of dinosaurs, fossil replicas, and fossils excavated from Hida. Plenty of other items are on display across their expansive site too, which includes a Noh theater and an outdoor exhibition area.

Visit this place for its amazing architecture. As for what is inside the building, the opinion seems to be divided but its a little bit of everything under the sun from dinosaurs to modern art. There...
Kusakabe Folk Crafts Museum

4.0

77 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Takayama-shi Oshinmachi 1-52

This is a beautiful building although sparsely furnished it still gives you a sense of life back in the day. We visited in winter so appreciated how cold these places can get! Wouldnt say this was a...
Takayama City Archives Museum

4.0

66 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Shinmeimachi 4-15

Built in 1895, this historic building was used as the town and city hall until 1968. It’s at the southern end of the Preservation Districts for Groups of Traditional Building in Sanmachi, Takayama City. You can look out from Ichinomachi to Sannomachi, and the Nakabashi Bridge that spans the Miyagawa River is right before your eyes. The entire building is made of hinoki cypress, and various parts have sliding glass pane doors, which were rare when it was built. This building was state-of-the-art in those days and still maintains its former features. Now it’s a museum that preserves and displays Takayama City’s administrative materials, information about Takayama City history through panel displays and realia from the period.

Well preserved buildings but it was very crowded when we visited and guides were talking over each other. Bit difficult to see the history, but worth a visit.
Takayama-betsuin Shoren-ji Temple

4.0

42 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Teppoumachi 6

Crossing the Miyagawa River from Sakurayama Hachimangu Shrine, this Otani Shinshu Buddhist temple on National Route 158 has an enormous gate at the end of the approach. The temple was founded in 1253 by Shinran’s disciple Kanenbo Zenshun in Hida’s Shirakawa-go, Naka-go. Takayamabetsuin was moved to its present location by the Warring States Period (1467-1615) warlord Kanamori Nagachika. The highlight on the grounds is the temple’s treasure hall with more than 100 important items related to Shinran and Rennyo on display. The fact that it’s near Takayama City’s main tourist area is a good point, too. They have a paid parking lot that can accommodate large buses, and since the fees are reasonable, many people park there before exploring the city.

A Buddhist temple situated at he start of the Higashiyama walking course. A beauty and well maintained. Nice architectural structures.
Hida Ichinomiya Minashi Shrine

4.0

22 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Ichinomiyamachi 5323

Located an eight-minute walk from JR Hida-Ichinomiya Station, this shrine has been regarded as the emotional foundation for the people of Hida since ancient times as the highest ranking shrine in the old Hida Province. 14 gods are worshipped in addition to “Mitoshi no Okami,” the main god known as “Minashi no Kami,” which has attracted worship as the god of production that controls harvests and yields and settles a strategic water source and transportation route. In addition to first shrine visits for the new year, it bustles with many worshippers for annual festivals such as the Hida Ikibina Festival (Live Doll Festival), and the prefecture-designated intangible cultural heritage “Jindai Odori” (Era of Gods Dance).

飛騨国一宮、水無神社。位山から下りて来てちょうどこの神社の前を通り飛騨中心の高山へ繋がっています。大きい木がありましたが夏の朝、山国の一宮はひっそりとしていました。なお、国道41号の宮峠トンネルが開通し南飛騨の下呂など益田方面行きやすくなりました。
Shishi Hall (Shishi Kaikan)

4.5

40 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Sakuramachi 53-1

The Shishi Hall (Shishi Kaikan) is a museum in Takayama City, Gifu Prefecture that is dedicated to Karakuri. Karakuri are mechanically-operated moving human figures and models that are displayed on the floats that parade through Takayama during the Takayama Matsuri (Takayama Festival), one of the “Three Great Festivals of Japan”; they are controlled using strings, springs and clockwork, etc. The Shishi Hall’s “Karakuri Performance,” in which visitors are able to see how expertly the Karakuri are operated, was selected as a one-star item in the Michelin Travel Guide. There is also a display of approximately 300 ceremonial “lion heads” from all over Japan; as the only exhibition of its kind in Japan, this lion-head display has been designated as an Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property.

Amazing exhibition of the floats used during processions which are huge and finely decorated. Well worth a visit
Hida Sannogu Hie Shrine

4.0

25 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Shiroyama 156

Located approximately a 10-minute walk from the red Nakabashi Bridge that spans the Miya River, this shrine dedicated to Oyamakui no Kami sits at the southern foot of Mt. Shiroyama located in the center of the city. It has a long history of praying for the coming of the deity, and is said to have been built in 1141. It is famous for its annual spring Takayama Festival held every year on April 14 and 15. Of a pair of portable shrines made in 1816 that are both important cultural properties of Takayama City, one is housed in the shed of the main shrine, and the other is in the place where a sacred palanquin is enshrined in the Nakabashi rest station.

高山市街地の南東端にある神社で、春の高山祭りはこの神社の例大祭です。春の高山祭りては古い町並みにある一の鳥居から神社までの道路に絢爛豪華な12台の山車が並びます。また、恒例の御巡幸はこの神社からスタートします。今回は御巡幸が出ていって、人混みの減った時に参拝しました。森に囲まれた流石の大きな神社で、大きな楠のご神木や稲荷神社や天満宮もあります。
Hida no Sato

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Kamiokamotomachi 1-590

This facility is located close to the Hida no Sato bus stop, about a 10-minute ride on the Sarubobo Bus from JR Takayama Station. This open air museum consists of Hida no Sato, a removed and restored old valuable kominka (old house) with a gassho (large thatched roof) style, and its sister facility Folk Village. In the museum, there are 30 kominka, representative of Hida, and they form the landscape of an old agricultural mountain village. Each kominka exhibits old everyday tools, and there are demonstrations of straw craft and Hida quilted clothes. Sangaku Museum in the Folk Village displays historical materials of mountain climbing, and plant and animal specimens.
Art & Festa Forest in TAKAYAMA

3.5

10 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Chishimamachi 1111

This museum dedicated to the Takayama Festival is located a 20-minute drive from Takayama Nishi Interchange on the Tokai Hokuriku Expressway. The museum’s underground dome, which was created by excavating the mountain’s slope, houses a number of exhibits. These include the Heisei Yatai, eight festival floats created from scratch for the first time in 150 years, and interactive marionette exhibit, and the world’s largest taiko drum. Once a year in spring, all of the festival floats are set up in the parking lot, where visitors can enjoy marionette shows performed atop the floats, taiko drum performances, and more. The adjacent Insect Collection of the World features exhibits including specimen of insects from around the world including Japanese Luehdorfia butterflies.

他の方も大体そうかと思いますが、バスツアー利用で食事です。飛騨牛が美味しいのは流石です。自身の参加ではなかったですが、飛騨牛の食べ放題利用とかもあるようです。お肉だけではなく、お米も美味しかったのが印象的です。
Fujii Art Museum

3.5

13 Reviews

Leisure / Hobbies

Gifu Takayama-shi Kamisannomachi 69

The characteristic heavy facade of this museum of folk art is modeled after the gate of the second wall of Takayama Castle. The museum houses a collection of approximately 2,500 pieces of antiques and folk art amassed over 70 years by Takayama's resident doctor, Tadaichi Fujii. The building in which the collection is displayed is a clay structure built over five years using all cypress wood in the Edoman style. The building has walls that are nearly one meter thick. The wide-ranging collection contains, among other things, Kyoho dolls made over 270 years ago, hanging scrolls by Yokoyama Taikan and Ikkyu, and Kutani and Imari ware.

高山の古い町並・上三之町にある。医師・藤井糺一が収集した古美術品・古民芸品などを展示。入館料700円。展示室内撮影不可。入口の門は高山城二の丸の登城門を総檜造りで復元したもの。土蔵を改修した3層の展示室には、陶器、漆器、家具、書、人形、着物、武具などが所狭しと並んでいるが高山ならではというものはない。「高山の美術民芸」館ではなく、「高山にある」美術民芸館である。
Soyuji Temple

4.0

11 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Takayama-shi Soyujimachi 218

The only Rinzai school temple in Takayama City, it is located an eight-minute drive from JR Takayama Station. In 1632, it was opened by the brothers Kanamori Shigeyori and Shigekatsu, the third head of Hida to pray for their father Arishige. Inside, the the retainer of the shogun, Yamaoka Tesshu's monument and his parents' grave are enshrined and they are registered as a city designated historical site. Otherwise, it is a temple and shrine that has several city designated historical sites such as main hall, bell hall, and the group grave of the craftsmen. The garden and stepping stones on the east side of the the priests' living quarters and on the mountain side it is organized with the layer of stones, law and mid-height trimmed trees, and you can get a glimpse of the elegant and sophisticated samurai culture of Takayama.

Just a quick walk from the centre of town up the hill. Very peaceful spot with a couple of hidden gems. Temple itself was large with well maintained garden etc. And if you look carefully on one of...
Hida Gokoku Shrine

3.5

11 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Takayama-shi Horibatamachi 90

This shrine is located in the Takayama Station Sannomaru ruins about an eight-minute drive from Takayama Station. The grounds were purified in 1878, and the Chukyoin was completed there the next year. The stone walls on the site are the original ones from the Sannomaru period. Now known as a popular spot for cherry blossom viewing, there are many Yoshino cherry trees planted around the outer moat that bring to mind castle walls. It is said to be the smallest shrine among the countless Gokoku shrines (shrines that enshrine and honor the war dead) throughout the country.

高山駅から徒歩20分ほど。高山城三の丸跡に鎮座。 1909年に「飛騨招魂社」として創建。現在も神門前には創建時の社名が彫られた社号標が立っている。祭神は西南の役以降の飛騨出身の戦没者。社殿は木造銅板葺き。左側に繋がっている「忠孝苑合祭殿」には飛騨大神宮・黄金神社・祖霊殿が祀られており、さらにその左には久和司神社、飛騨匠神社が鎮座している。
Hirayu no Yu Hirayu Folk Museum

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Pref. Takayamashi Okuhidaonsengouhirayu

This museum is about a five-minute walk after getting off at the Hirayu Bus Terminal. The building is a remodeled private house with a half-hipped roof, with a sunken fireplace room and hemp clothing to show old rural life of the first floor, and exhibits of farm tools that introduce the history of Hida on the second floor. And another thing that is popular is Hirayu no Yu that adjoins the Hirayu Folk Museum. The rotenburo (open-air bath) has spring water directly from the source and is located in a clump of trees, giving it a great atmosphere. Able to see the changing scenes of the seasons from fresh green to autumn leaves and winter snow, you can enjoy the beauty of nature and Hirayu’s hot springs to your heart’s content.
Ankokuji Temple

4.0

10 Reviews

Travel / Tourism

Gifu Takayama-shi Kokufucho Nishimonzen 474

This is one of the temples which Ashikaga Takauji and his brother Tadayoshi, the founders of the Muromachi Shogunate, ordered built across Japan. It was founded in 1347 by converting Shorinji Temple in Kokufu. It originally had a complete seven-structured temple compound and nine sub-temples, but most of it was destroyed during the Warring States period. The rotating sutra shelf in the scripture house which survived the fires is the oldest of its kind in Japan. It's one of the few sutra repositories to be declared a National Treasure, along with those at Horyuji Temple and Toshodaiji Temple. The Senshin no Mori forest behind the temple has numerous cultural assets, and you can do a walk taking in some of the 33 sacred spots of the Saigoku Pilgrimage.

岐阜にある2つの国宝建物のうちの一つである経蔵があるお寺です。平時から内部拝観には予約がいるようです。1408年に建てられた経蔵は離れたところから見ただけなので華美さを控えた武家らしい禅宗様ですが、和様も取り込まれているとのこと、機会があれば予約して内部も見てみたいと思いました。

Gifu Takayama

Travel / Tourism History / Culture / Tour

Reference/Local/Exhibition/Literature Museum Shrine Castle / Ruins of Castle Historical Monument Temple Church Ruin / Grave / Ancient Tomb Memorial Hall Cultural Property Event Hall / Public Hall Art Museum Museum / Science Museum Other Historic Site/Building

Gifu Areas

Tucked away in the very center of Japan, Gifu prefecture houses mountains, old towns, and one of Japan’s greatest hot springs, Gero Onsen. A tour of the prefecture’s traditional architecture will take you from the mountain-enveloped wooden streets of Takayama to the mountain village of Shirakawago, where visitors can explore 250-year-old thatched roofed houses known as gassho-zukuri.