Winter Japan Holiday - 3D2N at Takayama/Shirakawa-go

After a 1.5 hour train ride from Gero, we arrived at our next destination! Takayama is a charming small city in Japan within Gifu Prefecture, and I checked into the Residence Hotel Takayama Station. This hotel is about a less than 5-minute walk from Takayama JR station. From the hotel, it is also about a 15-minute walk to the historic old town 'Sanmachi Historic District', which is one of the main highlights of Takayama.

Upon entering the hotel room, I felt it was akin to a serviced apartment. It was clean, and was equipped with a washing machine with laundry pods provided),a kitchenette, and a microwave!

Sarubobo (さるぼぼ) is a Japanese amulet, particularly associated with the Town of Takayama. It was little wonder to find different colored Sarubobos in every souvenir/gift store! The different colored Sarubobos represent different kinds of lucky charms.

In the old town of Sanmachi-Suji, ancient houses from the Edo period still exist and were well-preserved. The area is dubbed 'Little Kyoto' for it's historic and picturesque appeal.

Gohei mochi is rice pounded into a cake and stuck on a skewer to be glazed with soy sauce and miso. It was fragrant and delicious - a regional cuisine from a part of Japan that includes Hida.

We love the Hida Beef Bun! This fluffy bun is filled with with Hida beef and vegetables, as well as locally produced Miso. I love the juiciness of the meat, and the overall taste was top notch!

Both Baby and I chanced upon this little café during our visit - Sanmachi Suji. This a sweet-specialist shop selling delicious Matcha & Azuki treats.

It's a Must-visit especially for dessert lovers!

The district of Sanmachi-suji is also well known for its many Sake breweries. Being a former merchant district way back in Edo Japan, I can see why there are so many breweries!

Without a doubt, one must try out the Hida Beef (hidagyu) when visiting the region of Hida Takayama, Japan. It is also the signature food in Takayama, and is also well-known in Japan as the top-quality lean beef. Therefore, we decided to have it during our 2 days in Takayama. 

We settled at Akariya for dinner. This eatery place offers one of the best values for money set, as the set include various items!  It is a traditional Japanese restaurant where we need to take off our shoes, and were ushered to a private tatami room to have our meal!

We tasted local Hida Yakiniku, and the meat was totally delicious!! Especially the Hida premium beef, it was one of the best meats we have ever eaten!

The Hida Beef was lean yet buttery, I really love this excellent quality beef which literally melted in my mouth! Money well-spent, truly eaten!

 The meat was cut in thick slices and served in generous portions, and we were full after our dinner. The price was pretty reasonable at a little over 10,000 yen for two people. 

Baby bought a strawberry cheese cake from Takayama Green Hotel for my mini birthday celebration. Apart from the cake, Baby got me a Kirby figurine, which he won it via a claw machine!

Happy Birthday to me and may all my wishes comes true this year.

Next morning, after our simple brekkie in the hotel room, we headed down to the bus station to take the bus to Shirakawa-go. 

After a scenic 50 minutes, we arrived in Shirakawa-go. OMG! It was snowing heavily, and we didn’t bring any umbrella with us at all. I think it was gonna be fun under the blizzard!

Shiragawa-go is located in the Gifu Prefecture, an area of Japan known for being a winter destination. It is an UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It was my first time visiting Shirakawa-go, and it gave me a sense of unreal disbelief and wonder. The whole place was entirely white, just like the inside of a Christmas Snow-Globe! The thatched roof huts were covered by the powdery snow – OMG! It’s not an easy scenic to forget!

Shirakawa-go is best to go during the peak of winter, as it is highly marketed as a winter wonderland destination. It really looks just like a fairy-tale village to me! Most of the buildings have been converted into restaurants, museums, souvenir shops and guesthouses.

We walked up a hill to reach the lookout, to see the views of the whole village.

There is one more reason why it’s popular to visit Shirakawa-go in winter, because of the light up event. Unfortunately, we didn’t stay till dusk to see it, as due to the schedule of the bus service. Anyway, I understand one needs to spend a night at the village in order to watch the light up event. Apparently it is a strict rule of Ogimachi Village at night. We left the village after we had lunch and finished off our observation area at the hill peak. 

After arriving back at Takayama, we headed for our dinner nearby to Takayama Station. We went to Matsuki-ushi which was literally opposite our hotel. They are a relatively casual restaurant which specialises in an assortment of sushi. They also offer Hida Beef done in various ways.

I had the Sushi Platter as my main course, while Baby had Hida Beef Steak.

Hoba Miso is also very popular in Takayama. Although I'm familiar with Japanese Miso, Hoba Miso is a unique/popular item in Takayama. It's very special as the dish is cooked by using miso on top of a leaf from the Magnolia tree and the leaf is cooked over a mini stove over fire. It was definitely the first time for me! 

We shared a portion of Hoba Miso Beef too! The food was of a reasonable quality at pretty reasonable prices.

On our final day in Takayama, we booked the afternoon train to go to our next destination – Kawazawa. We made use of our morning free time to visit Takayama Morning Market. It was a cold morning, and most of the shops were still closed, but some store owners were cleaning the snow which had piled up overnight.

We picked up the Hoba Miso and some Sarubobo dolls as souvenirs from the Morning Market.

We only managed to try the Eggy Marshmallow. Apart from its unusual shape, the taste was quite normal.

I really love the charming ancient town of Sanmachi-Suji with many wooden-shops dating back to the Edo period.

It was still snowing lightly while making my way for lunch at Kyoya, which is around a 15-minute walk from Takayama Station. We got addicted to Hoba Miso, so we decided to have it again before leaving Takayama. 

Kyoya is a popular restaurant that offers delicious local cuisine made using Hida Beef and other local ingredients, as well as seasonal delicacies. It is located in a traditional house that gave it a fascinating retro-style ambience. They offer a wide range of other top-notch dishes.

We ordered the lunch set featured a wide range of set meals such as ‘Hida Takayama Go-zen (Gourmet)’ Set Meal. We had a delightful meal there!

After our meal, we walked back to our hotel to p up our lickuggage and took the train to Kanazawa! Stay tuned to our next destination - Kanawaza!

<Beautiful view captured during our train ride from Takayama to Kanazawa>