Day 16, July 8

Breakfast was included in our Ryokan stay. And what a breakfast it was! A Japanese style breakfast with all sorts of things. Rice, miso soup, fish, egg, rice tea, tofu, pickled this and pickled that as well as a hot dish cooked over some hot rocks. The dish is called Hooba Miso, grilled spring onions and shiitake mushrooms with miso served on a hooba leaf. It was served in our own private dining room. Whilst at breakfast our futons were put away and our table and chairs returned. Off to the market first up we we ate some Hida beef and some sweet eggy marshmallow type things.Then a look around the old town Takayama and on to a bus to Hida No Sato an old folk village where 30 buildings were all moved from different parts of the Hida region. They are preserving the traditional houses and lifestyles to pass their precious cultural heritage on to the next generations.

Tess found a Tex Mex restaurant with vegan options for lunch, The burgers were great! Very hip kind of place. Then it was off to Takayama Showa Hall which is a retro museum. We experienced Pachinko. This is a mechanical game a bit like a cross between a slot machine and a pinball machine but you play with and win little steel balls that are then swapped for prizes or tokens. It is illegal in Japan to gamble for cash so you then take your tokens away and cash them in for a fee at another premises. Japan’s Pachinko market generates more gambling revenue than that of Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore combined!

Dinner was in another small restaurant run by a mother and son. It was like a Japanese style tapas with vegan options and some more Hida beef for Gerard and I.

Photos from around old Takayama.

Hida No Sato folk village.

It was very interactive at the folk village.

Our Ryokan is behind the big tree.