The hotel in Takayma proved to be opposite the station and very comfortable – way out the best so far. A large room with two queen size beds, a desk and table etc. etc.
After unpacking we went out to explore the town which proved to be as interesting as we had hoped. Also the weather was dry and quite warm. We walked along the streets of the old town where I bought a wooden spoon designed like an aubergine as well as a very good pattie for lunch.
Here I spotted an attractive manhole cover in the street and this started my ‘collection’ of them which is recorded separately.
We then left the rather crowded tourist area going up the hill a bit and walking through the park and back towards the area with many shrines. From there we headed for the museum with some of the very elaborate floats for the spring and autumn festivals. After that we visited the family house of a Sake distillery. This was interesting as we walked without shoes over the rice-straw flooring – a very pleasant feel – and could look carefully at the screens between the different rooms, confirming the story that Japanese houses are ‘made of paper’!
From there we went to the history and art museum. Unfortunately there was not much in English but we did watch a film made in the 1960s about the town, it was interesting to see including some of the festivals even though we could not understand anything.
This post is an extract of my mother’s travel journal written during a tour of Japan in 2014.
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