To get there, we had to go through Nagoya and Takayama, which is another tourist destination due to the fact that there are several sections of the 'old town' that have been preserved and maintain the look from earlier times. We would stay the night in Takayama and then take a bus to Shirakawago to stay in one of the 'minshoku' or guesthouses.
Takayama is famous for a few things - a Spring festival which consists of several floats that parade across the town, and a doll called a Sarubobo which according to S is for protection of evil sprits. Wiki disagrees.
The other thing it is famous for is "mountain food" which consists of hida-beef, homebrew sake and mountain vegetables. The town is quite touristy with the 'old town' consisting primarily of souvenir shops (omiyage) and food (beef croquettes, various pickled vegetables, beef on a stick, buns, senbei - rice crackers, dango - grilled mochi being the most common). We wandered the old town before it started raining and was lucky enough to come across 'the best minced beef in Japan!'. This minced beef, crumbed and deep fried - much better than the other croquettes they were selling around the place.
We then went to our hostel - J Hoppers in Takayama - which was very clean with reasonables sized rooms. After a quick nap, we went out for dinner, which was in the rain. After wandering the streets for a bit, we ended up at 'Sakana' which means fish. This was a semi bar/restaurant and we proceeded to eat our way through the entire menu. We had some amazing Sashimi, Hida Beef...
Hoba Miso (a sweet miso paste, cooked over a hoba leaf with vegetables and beef)
stir fried eggplant and prawn with a chinese style sauce, an interesting pizza made of puff pastry and seafood and for dessert, incredibly sweet and juicy slices of local peach. The meal was Amazing, but lets just say, we could have fine dined in Sydney for the price of the meal. Having said that, the food was potentially of fine dining quality and we were paying for the experience also.
The next morning, we went to the morning markets where people sold fruits and vegetables as well as various other souvenirs and local products. S bought some pickled cucumber and nozawana (a pickled mountain vegetable). We then caught a bus to Shirakawago, where at the bus stop, we saw a guy collapse and get taken away by an ambulance...
Don't be mistaken, Shirakawago is a tourist hot spot with tens of buses full of tourists arriving every day. However, the fact that they have been able to maintain the guesthouses and original buildings in a state that is close to the original is impressive. From a lookout point, you can see the entire village as it might have looked hundreds of years ago.
We booked a nights stay at Magoemon, one of the guesthouses/original farmhouses.
These are run by families who rent out the ground level to tourists and live on the second floor. They cook local style meals using a firepit inside the house. They provide kaiseki style meals with many courses in a communal living area.
Highlights of the meal include: grilled tofu with sweet miso paste
and salted fish cooked over coals
As we were having dinner, the host family secretly set out our bedding, so that when we opened the door to our room (which was right behind where we sat to eat) this is what we saw after dinner!
The next morning, we were treated to breakfast, which was surprisingly good, even though it was vegetarian.
As it was raining heavily that day, we headed back to Tokyo.I would highly recommend a stay at one of the guesthouses in Shirakawago. Due to the remoteness of the village (in the mountains, so the temperature is more moderate) and the lack the tourists at night after the last bus, it is extremely peaceful and we slept to the sound of the river rushing beneath us. The food was of excellent quality and I thoroughly enjoyed the break from the pace of the city.
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