Hidatakayama Sanmachi Historic District — Attraction in Takayama

The old townscape of Hidatakayama Sanmachi Historic District @Takayama 🇯🇵 – Golden Yatai, Sake & Festival Charm 🎏🍶🛍️

We visited Sanmachi Suji on 15 April during the Takayama Spring Festival, and it was an incredible experience. The historic alley was full of life, with yatai (festival floats) on display—the golden yatai was absolutely amazing, shining with intricate craftsmanship and traditional elegance.

The street was lined with traditional costume shops, paper umbrellas (和傘), local crafts, and souvenirs—perfect for festival-goers. We also enjoyed sake tasting at one of the local breweries, adding a rich cultural flavor to our walk.

With the backdrop of cherry blossoms and Edo-style buildings, it was a perfect blend of heritage and celebration. A must-visit during the spring...

Oldtown Takayama goes back to the year 1100's and was formerly known for the many Sake-breweries that are present here, pottery shops, green the (get your fresh cut right here) and alpine setting in the mountains - it gets quite cold, start April. The many wooden buildings, shops, restaurants, shrines and religious buildings among the urbancity, gives you a really nice impresion of former and local japan. Go for a walk in- and around town to see the local cultures and views. Just stunning - the only problem is, that it takes almost 5 hours by train from Nagano to get here....AND...is the same way return by train (dont forget to book your seat on the train - they are limited availability!), unless you want to make your way through the "Japanese Alps" in Nagano...

Charming old street with traditional houses and some of the shops are selling century old crafts and food. There’s a traditional miso and soya sauce shop with free tasting. Both the miso paste and soya sauce were so nice. Wished I could have bought more to bring home. The Miso and soy sauce shop is called Ohnoya Takeda.

We went on a Wednesday afternoon and for some reasons half of the shops were closed. It was still worthwhile visiting with lots of snacks available and shops to browse.

We walked from the start of the street right till the end where it joins the river. Autumn colours were beautiful in Takayama generally. The maple trees we thought were plastic at first but they were actually real trees with very...