hida no sato
For the other half of our vacation way back in August, Iain and I went to touristy, pretty Takayama, where the menus come in English, French and Japanese. A few hours away was the World Heritage site of Gassho-zukuri, but, because Iain and I are the lamest (and cheapest) tourists ever (and because we only had a day and wanted to see more things), we went instead to the much closer and much cheaper Hida-no-Sato, an open air museum featuring models of the similar old-fashioned houses. Though not in their original location, the house are, I think, the real things, rather than models, which made us feel a little less lame.
Hida-no-Sato is filled with different kinds of traditional Japanese houses (most of which are assigned imaginary owners, like "The Tanakas' House") that you can explore:
above: Iain, do not even think about using that thatched roofed shed. (Don't worry, he didn't actually touch it).
Inside, you can see various types of farming equipment used in the area throughout history. The room above was filled with sledges for carrying logs.
I felt a little silly skipping over the World Heritage site, but I'd still recommend the Hida folk village for anyone interested in a glimpse of old Honshu who doesn't want to spend $90 getting themselves to and in Gassho-zukuri. At the very least, that way you can save some money to try some of Takayama's famous Hida beef, back in town.
