#Hida No Sato

Hida no Sato, which means Hida Village in English, is an open-air museum in Takayama, a city in the Japanese Alps.

The houses in the village date back to the Edo period (1603 to 1868). But the setup is totally artificial. The museum was founded back in 1971, and they moved houses from all over the Hida region to get them here.

Some of the buildings come from the town of Shirakawa-go, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site thanks to its gassho-zukuri style houses. This building style stands out for its steep thatched roofs that can handle massive amounts of snow in the winter – which happens quite a bit in this part of Japan.

Other buildings were brought to the museum from areas with milder weather. This spelled disaster for the Taguchi house in 1981 when a roof beam snapped under the weight of the snow during a heavy winter storm.

On the museum grounds, you can freely explore the houses and look over the shoulders of traditional craftsmen showing off their skills here and there. Plus, they light the fireplaces in the houses in the morning. So you can really smell your little trip back in time too.

The museum is open every day from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm. You can get there from Takayama station on the Sarubobo bus or by walking for about 25 minutes. Entry costs 700¥. They’ve got English signs up. Make sure you only go into the houses in your socks.

If you still have some time to kill after your visit, you absolutely have to pop over to the old town of Takayama and try the delicious Hida beef while you’re there.

After a comfy night’s sleep, the day kicked off with a Japanese breakfast. It was rainy today, making it the perfect chance to visit a museum.

A bit out of the way, but easy enough to walk to, is the Hida no Sato open-air museum. It features old houses from the Hida region that give you a glimpse into what life was like during the Edo period. A typical feature is the design with a fire pit in the middle of the room and an open ceiling. There’s no chimney. The smoke drifts up through the roof structure, keeping pests away as it goes. The loft spaces weren’t lived in; instead, they were used for breeding silkworms and producing silk. In some of the houses, museum staff sat around in period costumes showing off traditional crafts.

When a sudden downpour caught us off guard, we dashed into a little, secluded hut. A fire was glowing inside, and we sat on the warm tatami mat waiting for the rain to stop. It was so cosy!

To wrap up the trip, we treated ourselves to some Hida beef at a yakiniku restaurant. They serve up various little bits of meat and veg that you cook yourself on a tabletop grill. The wagyu beef is marbled with fine fat, super tender, and incredibly flavourful. Thanks to the high fat content, though, it fills you up pretty quick.