Takayama

May 15-16 

Six hours on the train brought us to Takayama, and we wandered towards our hostel just a few hundred meters from the station. We settled in our mixed dorm double bed (another capsule) and headed out for a dinner of Hida beef, something the region is known for. We ended up at a nearby restaurant grilling raw meat and veg on a portable barbecue at our table. Delicious, but small portions. It left us wanting a full steak, but those were a bit more than we wanted to spend. 

With only one day in Takayama, we headed out the next morning to walk through the famous old town, which left us unimpressed. The streets with historically preserved architecture seemed not that different than many of the buildings we had seen throughout the rest of Japan, but swarming with tourists. We meandered through some high-end shops before ending up at the retro museum, which was a large collection of mid-century Japanese kitsch. It felt like digging through a very well sorted hoarder's estate sale, and you could play with all the toys! We played on old pachinko machines (like Japanese pinball/slots machines), poked around an old barber's setup, and explored an antique Japanese schoolroom. Maybe a little out of place/time, but there was a whole room dedicated to Nintendo and Supernintendo. How did our childhood already end up in a retro museum?? I guess we're old. We beat a few levels of Donkey Kong Country on an old Super Nintendo for posterity's sake. Definitely ended up being the highlight of Takayama for us. 

So excited!

We ended up at an art museum overlooking the old streets. The art wasn't particularly to our taste, but there was a great place to sit in the sun and watch the crowds walk by. We relaxed there until it was time to get to our train. Next up, Kanazawa!