I started the day with a quick visit to the Imperial Palace. I didn't have much time so I just made it to the entrance of the East Gardens for a quick snapshot. The Gardens are just 4 long blocks from the Tokyo train station so it made a good stop before catching my train to Nagoya and Takayama. The weather was so rainy and foggy, that I could barely see the Tokyo Tower from the gardens.
To go to Takayama, I took the bullet train to Nagoya and then a limited express train to Takayama. The train to Nagoya usually get nice views of the mountains and Fuji, but it was too foggy for that.
At the train station in Nagoya, I bought a lunch box. Plastic models of the content simplified choosing which box to pick, although I was wondering what the plastic rectangular yellow block was going to be (it was sweet potato). The train ride to Takayama is very scenic. It follows a river and go through a number of small mountain towns. The small Takayama train station has a very nice (English speaking) tourist information office just outside that provided me tips and bus time schedules.
It was a 10 minutes walk from the train station to my Ryokan. The Sumiyoshi Ryokan, a traditional Japanese Inn, where I'm staying is located by the river in a small street of Takayama. It wasn't hard to find it thanks to the map that Japanese Guest Houses, the booking service that I used, provided. As I got there, I was warmly welcomed and shown to my room. The main concern of the host was that I understood the shoe policy: shoes off at the entrance, switch to slippers to walk around, slippers off on the tatami, slippers off and plastic slippers on in the bathroom. Very simple and civilized. Then, I was served a very strong green tea and a Japanese cookie. I was asked at what time I wanted dinner as well as breakfast the following day. I was offered the choice of Japanese or Continental breakfast (I chose Japanese).
After settling in, I went for a walk in town. The walk took me through beautiful old houses. The pictures below are the famous private houses of Takayama, some of them over 500 year old. Takayama feels like is Japan in a way that Tokyo doesn't. Although touristy, the city feels small and unspoiled; a combination of a ski resort town with upscale stores and art galleries, a tourist stop with shops selling key rings and refrigerator magnets, and a small town with the rest of the shops selling produce and Kobe beef.
After my walk, it was time for dinner. At first, I got a couple of small sushi dishes and I started thinking about which restaurant I was going to go to fill up when more plates came.
The main plate was Kobe beef cooked on my table with onions and sprouts with a tangy dipping sauce (a Takayama specialty). Then, tempura and rice. Followed by miso soup, pickles, and noodles. Finally, a very sweet fish and watermelon for dessert. All this was accompanied with sweet sake at first, and then a special green tea. I was pretty full at the end of all this... To be honest, I haven't eaten like this since the beginning of this trip.
After all this food, I decided to go again for a walk. To my surprise, everything in the town closes early. By 7:30pm, all shops were closed, except for places with revolving yellow lights (bars) or revolving red lights (casinos and pachinko houses). I came back to the ryokan to connect to the Internet (they only have one computer, but I convinced the owner to allow me to connect my laptop directly). Then, it was time for a traditional Japanese bath (unfortunately with the tub set to "Western" temperature). By the time I was back to my room, it was transformed into a bedroom, with the table moved to the side and a futon spread on the tatami mats.
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