Sitting right behind the Engineer made our 2 hour and change train ride from Nagoya go by rather quickly. It was very interesting to watch the Engineer and the different hand signals he used. We arrived at Takayama Station and made our way to the rather humble Hotel Hana. I'd read a bit about Takayama, or to be more precise when talking to Japanese about the town; Hida-Takayama to differentiate the town from others named Takayama. There's a rather well known Old Town, some charming sights, but I had the town on our itinerary for one specific dish….more on that later.
After dropping off our bags. It was too early for check-in. The front desk person didn't speak a lick of English, so you gotta love Google translate. We headed off, stopping first to take a look at the marbled Hida Beef. Hida Beef, especially "Hida-gyu" (versus Hida Wagyu) is considered by many to be even more delicate, with thinner muscle fibers than Kobe beef and is much treasured. We stopped at Maruaki to take a look.
I gotta say; the beef looked quite impressive. This coming from a guy who has had A5 Kobe Beef in said city.
We did stick around very long since I wanted the Missus to check out Hida Folk Village (Hida-no-Sato, 飛騨の里), which was, according to the friendly woman at the TI stand; about 45 minute to an hour walk, or a ten minute bus ride up the hill. Guess which the Missus choose?
Actually, it was a very nice walk. In spite of the sun it was fairly cool. In fact, the day before we arrived I checked the temperature for Takayama and this is what I saw.
I sent this to a friend of mine in San Diego and she said; "oh, it's about the same in San Diego!" And then I mentioned this was in Fahrenheit not Celsius!
It had actually snowed two days before we arrived! During the first week of April. The air was crisp and clean; it was a nice walk as we got to take in the sights along the way.
Including the Teddy Bear Eco-Village. For real…….
And yes, that's snow….. And no, we didn't stop here. Though perhaps you might if you visit Takayama.
There's a certain charm to Hida-Takayama that, combined with a cool weather really put us into a good mood.
In fact, we were in such a good mood when we arrived that we decided to take the touristy photo…..
So who's that charming red faced character….no not me, the other three? Well, we had no idea! We saw this character everywhere, so later in the afternoon, I went to the TI and asked. Turns out, these little fellows are known as Sarubobo (さるぼぼ), which literally means "Monkey-baby". Traditionally, grandmothers in Gifu Prefecture would make these doll for their grandchildren. It's a good luck charm and both of us wished that we'd actually bought one for us….a Sarubobo of our own! Next time for sure.
Hida Folk Village is an open air museum; with 30 structures, some close to 500 years old, many of them moved from their original villages to preserve them.
Of note are the gasshō-zukuri styled houses, thatched roofs built at a steep angle like hands joined together in prayer (gassho).
The farmhouses are beautifully preserved and we get a look into how daily life was in these villages.
And the traditions…..
The snow on the structures and the fact that we had the place almost all to ourselves really added to the atmosphere.
Just think; if we'd arrived just two days earlier, we wouldn't be walking around quite as much.
We took a short break and got some drinks from the ever present vending machines.
And bade our farewell to Hida Folk Village. If you're ever in the area; a visit is highly recommended.
We headed back down to Takayama. The walk had done its work on our appetites. While walking back, we decided to head back to Maruaki and check out the restaurant. Which is located right next to the shop.
The place was doing some major business and the crowd seemed mostly tourists of all nationalities.
On the wall are photos of the farmers who provide the beef for Maruaki.
And while most folks were ordering one of the set meals of Hida Beef; there was one item I was after – Hoba Miso Yaki.
This dish from the Gifu area is meat and vegetables, with local miso grilled on Magnolia (Hoba) leaves. The Missus loved the version we've had at Okariba in Kyoto, so when planning this trip, I added Hida-Takayama to the itinerary.
The meat was very tender, the beefiness mild, as was the miso, beany-nutty, but not too salty. It almost felt criminal to eat such good quality beef this way; mixed with miso and vegetables.
The meal came with a simple salad; very crisp and refreshing, a light sesame dressing.
Salads can be quite expensive in Japan and I think the Missus was missing this; so we ordered a Beef Salad. Man, the seared beef in this was very tender and tasty.
Service was so-so, fairly professional, quite detached, probably a bit jaded with having to work with tourists all the time.
But we enjoyed our meal.
Hidagyu Maruaki
6-8 Tenmanmachi
Takayama 506-0025, Gifu Prefecture
Now it was time to check in and take a load off.
Thanks for reading!