Takayama, aka Little Kyoto

Takayama is 2 hours north of Nagoya, in the mountainous Hida district. It is filled with wonderful museums and historical buildrings, and small enough (almost 70, 000 people) to get around to most of them on foot. It is very popular with Japanese tourists.They have an outdoor museum similar to the Ukrainian Cultural Village outside of Edmonton. Hida no sato was the only place we had to travel to by bus, but it was definitely worth it. The buildings looked so beautiful surrounded by the fall colours.
The town has it's share of gift shops and tourist traps, but they are of a high calibur. I enjoyed the shops, displays and morning markets.
The Hida district is home to the world's most expensive beef, which we sampled at it's best in Shabu Shabu.Other highlights included sleeping in a Buddist Temple (cheapest place in town!), eating Hida milk pudding (dairy is quite rare in Japan), and visiting a 1200 year old ginko tree.

I also found the convenience store next to the train station very entertaining. I recommend it for lunch on the way out.