If you find local history and/or Japanese architecture interesting, this free, understated museum about Takayama's municipal history and its early City Hall building is well worth a visit. You can walk through the entire building, view its inner garden area, and at various points see exposed areas of the structure to learn about construction materials and methods. Don't miss the large meeting room on the second floor, accessible only by very steep stairs, and the decorative iron fence work at street level. As for local history, there are some English translations of the write ups about the exhibited documents and images, but many are not translated. I had time on my hands and found Google image translation worked like a charm.