Takayama- View image

Before actually getting to Takayama, a cliche photo of Japan- what I think people might think: View image

More than one student I asked called Takayama “little Kyoto.” Having never been to Kyoto I felt no obligation to make the comparison. The decision to go to Takayama was based on location, only 2 ½ hours away, and my time off- only a couple days. I will not expand on the cost prohibitive nature of local travel in Japan where a ticket to Thailand or Bali is cheaper than one to Okinawa or Hokkaido except to say this also was a factor.

Takayama boasts many shrines (View image
) and temples, “old” streets and daily markets and an entryway to the Japanese Alps which I could see in the distance with snow still filling some of the valleys. Let me paraphrase my friend Dan’s idea as quoted in Rolf Pott’s book Vagabonding: that after seeing so many gothic churches they all start looking the same…and then what. I think he would say the same about the shrines and temples Japan is so well known for. This is not to discount the significance but rather to note that even significant objects and events can become numbing and relatively little thought given to them after seeing so many.

The exception to the monotony is the Suzya Main Shrine (View image
) which was built in the 1980’s and is a new religion combining Shinto, Buddhism, Christianity and New Age into one idea of “true light” which radiates from the Creator God, etc…Perhaps the English pamphlet lacked a well scripted translation because overall it sounded a bit...hokey.

However, the most interesting part of the trip, the part that makes any trip worthwhile, is the point at which it becomes memorable. For me this was while at the Hida Folk Village.

Pictures of the Hida Folk Village:
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I happened upon a group of students who were learning how to make sandals of intertwined straw. What is now crafts used to be necessity. I could see a few of the students daring their friend to talk to me, obviously the foreigner. A few of them walked outside in their new sandals and we talked for a few minutes. They practiced their English and I my Japanese. We walked up the hill and rang a huge bell together taking turns whacking the small log hanging by rope into the metal. One of them took off a sandal and wanted me to try it on. I put my foot over the top showing the span almost twice the length of the sandal.

I was like a rock star as they took turns taking their picture with me, all waving the peace sign or thumbs up. It was at that time the trip to Takayama became more than a tourist stop, more than something simply to see. I might forget one of them already had the dream of becoming a pastry chef in England- the Japanese love of cake already taking root in the young- but I will remember those few moments of genuine interest in trying to communicate for the simple pleasure of understanding something strange, even for a brief moment.