Hida-Furukawa, one night: the canal town fifteen minutes past Takayama

Most people who reach Takayama treat it as the end of the line. About fifteen minutes further north on the JR Takayama Line, Hida-Furukawa (飛騨古川) has the same white-walled storehouses and slow water. It gets far fewer tour buses and goes to bed much earlier.

Afternoon along the canal

From the station, walk about five minutes to the Seto River (瀬戸川, Setogawa). It is a narrow stone-edged channel with white plaster storehouses along one bank. From spring to late autumn the water holds roughly a thousand carp. Before the snow comes they are moved to a pond, so in winter you see still water instead.

Follow the channel to Ichinomachi. Two sake breweries there, Watanabe and Kaba, still hang sugidama (杉玉, balls of cedar) above their doors. Both sell bottles at the counter, and a small bottle packs more easily than anything from a gift shop.

Plan the evening around closing time

Most shops on the old streets close at around five, and the town goes quiet soon after. Book dinner ahead or eat at your inn, because few places stay open past seven. Spend the last open hour at the Hida Furukawa Matsuri Kaikan, the festival hall near the canal. It shows the floats and the huge drum used in the Okoshi Daiko, which is held every year on 19 and 20 April. Seeing them makes it clear why the streets are laid out the way they are.

白壁の土蔵と瀬戸川の鯉は、町の人が手入れを続けてきた風景だ。

Morning, before the day-trippers

Staying the night is what makes this trip different from a day trip out of Takayama. In the early morning, the storehouse walls and the canal belong to shopkeepers sweeping their doorsteps and a few people on their way to work. Take a mid-morning train back south to Takayama, or north toward Toyama, and you can keep going without retracing your steps.