Hida Folk Village

Hida Folk Village, An Open Air Museum Of About Thirty Farmhouses Moved To A Hillside Above Takayama, Many With Steep Thatched Roofs Like Those At Shirakawa Go, Set Around A Pond With Workshops And A Waterwheel. Quiet And Very Photogenic. · Takayama, Gifu

Hida Folk Village, called Hida no Sato, is an open-air museum on a hillside above Takayama, about 30 historic buildings - confirm the count - moved here from across the Hida region. Many are steep-roofed gassho-zukuri farmhouses of the kind found at Shirakawa-go, built so that heavy mountain snow slides off the thatch. You walk a loop path past a pond and a waterwheel, and you can step inside most houses, shoes off, to see the sunken hearths with smoke-blackened beams and the old tools of farming and silk. Craft workshops show sarubobo dolls, woodwork and hand dyeing - confirm. It is quiet and very photogenic, and it suits families, photographers and anyone short of time for Shirakawa-go. Allow about 90 minutes to two hours. Autumn colour and winter snow are the best looks. It is worth the trip if you like old buildings and quiet paths, less so if you want a living village with residents who still farm the land.

1-590 Kamiokamoto-cho, Takayama, Gifu, a short bus ride from Takayama Station on the hillside above the old town, Takayama, Gifu, Japan

The village is commonly open daily from about 8:30 or 9:00 until about 16:30 or 17:00, with a slightly shorter day in winter and last entry before closing - confirm times and any maintenance closures. A ticket is bought at the gate. From Takayama Station, a local bus called the Sarubobo bus runs to the stop near the village in about 10 minutes, or you can walk for roughly 25 minutes through quiet streets - confirm the route. IC cards may not work on all Takayama buses, so carry cash. No booking is needed for entry, though workshop sessions can fill on busy days. Shoes come off at many house entrances.

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