Takayama has a very attractive historical center, and we spent the day wandering around taking it all in.
We visited the oldest standing Japanese government building, around 400 years old, this is an inner courtyardHere’s the room for torturing prisoners (serious)I’m guessing these pictures depict the politest forms of torture that actually happened in this placeKinda gruesome but that’s how it was back in the dayCool scale model of the entire complexLook, it’s Darth Shogun!! 😀The whole place is just so peaceful and attractive!Typical street scene in the historical districtLove the ambiance but the day was heating up quicklySo we ducked inside a small sake brewery for a couple of cold ones 😀Here’s the sake taste grid, with all the local bottles placed accordinglyWe somehow made it into the back area where the actual sake brewing was taking place (not entirely sure we were allowed back here)!But now it was time for lunch, and we found a pretty insane charcoal grill restaurantHere’s our grill heating up—excitement is buildingAnd stuff is happening!!
American tourists in non-Tokyo Japan still stick out as being unusual, and halfway through our lunch the chef (perhaps owner) came out to see us personally, with a welcoming smile. He haltingly asked where we were from, we replied “the US,” but he said “no, city! City!” This took us a second, but obviously he wanted to know where in particular we were from in the US, so I answered “Cincinnati!” He mused on this for a bit, puzzled… “Cincinnati…. Cincinnati….” Then with a big grin he suddenly swung his arms like a baseball player with a bat and with triumph announced “Cincinnati Reds!!!” I had forgotten how into American baseball Japanese people could be, but it was pretty cool and he was really pleased he could name our local team. It was a fun connection to make with a local, I love these moments.
There were, as usual, elements of mystery but this was a great meal!This may have been my fav beer of the tripLater, I discovered a scary commodeLuckily it came with instructions!!Yet another beautiful shrine, kinda hard not to take them for granted by now though, we’ve seen so manyTruly words to live byFinally found a shrine to America!!!!Yet another imposing structureA handsome park setting, unfortunately I don’t remember the detailsBut back to toilets! Ha the western-style ones need user’s guides here too!
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