Located within the Japanese Alps (日本アルプス, Nihon Arupusu), Takayama (高山) has always been a popular domestic tourist destination with its unique black-painted wooden machiya (町家, Traditional wooden townhouse) townscape surrounded by mountains. Beyond being just a pretty facade, many of these buildings are occupied by a wide variety of unique shops, including those selling miso (味噌), nihonshu (日本酒, Japanese rice wine), and, most popular of all, Hida Beef (飛騨牛, Hida Gyū).
The town is just the right size for a half-day itinerary exploring it’s morning markets and taking it the atmosphere of the old town before heading off to another destination, like Shirakawa-go in the afternoon. Most of the shops close by the afternoon, and the town is rather quiet at night.
