Monday, June 4, 2007

Takayama - Mountain City

Spent a rather uneventful day resting in Takayama City - mainly to rest my legs before I enter the Japan Alps National Park proper. Woke up rather late in the morning but I was still in time to catch a glimpse of the `Asa-Ichi` (Morning markets). These markets are supposedly one of the main attractions of Takayama City, but walking past them, they weren`t much, especially when compared with the pasar malams we have back in Singapore.
Takayama`s Central District - Honmachi and the `Asa-Ichi` under the white tents in the center

In the afternoon, visited the Shunkei Kaikan, which was directly opposite my ryokan. The Shunkei Kaikan is a small museum and shop displaying Takayama`s specialty - Shunkei Nuri or Shunkei-style lacquerware. This style of applying lacquer to wood products apparently shows off the natural grain of the wood, rather than obscuring the grain of the wood. The pieces on display were rather nice, and I thought of getting one for a souvenir until I saw the price tag on one of the wooden trays that was on sale.... See below
Shunkei-nuri Lacquerware
This bento tray cost 60,000yen or SGD720!
I spent most of the rest of the afternoon in a nearby net cafe updating my blog and checking my mail... didn`t do much until the highlight of my day - dinner. For dinner today, I planned to visit Suzuya, a restaurant famous for the Takayama specialty - Hoba miso and Hida beef. For 1890yen, I had a rice set which included Hida beef cooked over a slow fire with Hoba miso and some mountain vegetables on the side. Yummy!
Hida Beef and Hoba Miso

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