Hida Folk Village (Hida no Sato)

A peaceful and pleasant open-air museum that gives a good feel of traditional Hida architecture and lifestyle. The whole area is easy to explore on foot, with many well-preserved houses you can enter and explore freely. Apart from viewing the traditional houses, there are also a few fun activities set up near the entrance. We got to try shooting water from a traditional bamboo water gun and walking on bamboo stilts. Simple but surprisingly fun, especially for kids. Parking is paid together with the entrance ticket at the counter.

The highlight of Takayama! After purchasing a cheap entry ticket, you can spend a few hours walking around the village, optionally following one of the 3 routes pictured on a provided map (from quick route to visiting all 20 or so buildings). Every building is unique, and provides lots of information on specific parts of village life. The buildings themselves are transported from different places in the region, being more of a compilation of different examples than an actual village. However, this allows the museum to provide information on these different styles, such as designs to prevent snow buildup, or keep cool in summer. These buildings all require taking your shoes off, as is expected. A couple are indicated on the map as being extra notable, so make sure you visit these on your route. A few child friendly physical games are provided at the entrance, and there's toilets scattered throughout, with a rest area with drinks etc near the end. Check out all the fish on the pier too! There's a large souvenir shop at the bus stop outside, so don't worry about the lack of items inside the village. Make sure you keep an eye on bus routes, since the infrequent bus is one of the only ways to get to or from here!

What a cool spot. This place is packed with history, culture, and some beautiful scenery to top it off. You can take the bus up, but we just walked — it’s a pretty easy stroll from the town center. Tickets were under 1,000 yen for both of us (from memory), and well worth it. You get to explore a bunch of old traditional houses with thatched roofs, all laid out like an old mountain village. The architecture is unreal, and the displays showing how people lived and worked back then were really interesting. There were shrines around the grounds, and we even saw some live demonstrations — stuff like woodcarving and pottery, which gave the whole place a hands-on feel. It’s peaceful, open, and a great way to step back in time for a few hours. Would definitely recommend if you’re in Takayama and want to see something a bit different.

The Hida Folk Village is a wonderful open-air museum where you can explore traditional Japanese farmhouses and learn about the culture and lifestyle of the past. The area is quite large, so plan to spend 3 to 4 hours seeing all the buildings/exhibits.

A very peaceful, nature-infused and beautiful place to walk around, take photos and relax. I learned so much more about the Japanese after i came here. There was barely any wait, and the scenery, which was set beside a beautiful lake, was so worth it. Yes, there is a bell here you could ring (usually). Recommended to go in cooler weather, not winter since the shrine is closed in snowy weather due to risk of slipping on snow.