Takayama

The next morning our first stop as a group was Takayama Jinya, Takayama’s old city-hall like building, I guess. 

The courts and prison and stuff were all located there, as well as city officials going about their business, keeping an eye on other parts of Japan in case war were to break out, etc.  I can’t remember what era the Jinya dates back from, or really what jinya means.  We got a tour but it was hard to understand, and I only took pictures of the stuff that was interesting.
For example, this tea kettle, hanging over a fire pit. 

The handle you use to lift it up off the flame is shaped like a fish, to protect against fires!  In the servant’s quarters the handle was shaped like some kind of baton, shaking which is supposed to be a charm to attract more money.

There was a kitchen inside, which I thought was interesting.

Store room

Lined up against the wall there are all tiles to be used to retile the roof

In another room some koto players were entertaining tourists.  I’d never seen a koto played before, so I thought it was really interesting!  I recorded some of it if you’re curious.

After that the next room we saw that was interesting enough to warrant a photo was the prison, and some lovely demonstrations of all of the various torture device contained therein.

Stringing people up, beating people with bamboo canes, and by far the most creative: Being forced to sit seiza (kneeling with one’s feet tucked underneath -- not comfortable for people not used to it under the best circumstances) on a jagged platform, with heavy stone bricks placed on top of your knees! 

Nothing is scary than an old Japanese volunteer guide picking up a bamboo cane and saying “Does anyone want to give it a try? 

After that we had free time to wander around the old part of the city.  Along the river there was a farmer’s market going on, so I wanted to stop by.  But in the end we spent too much time there, and all the shops along the river were overly touristy, so we missed all the good stuff.

I had just enough time to go to a sake store and try a sample and get laughed at by old Japanese men.  But it was really quite tasty!

There were ducks on the river though!  They were cute.  They were swimming against the current to stay in place, so every so often they’d just get tired or decide to take a break, stop paddling, and go drifting back down the river again for a couple feet.

As we were driving towards our next stop on our bus, I saw this really pretty town in the mountains and snapped a couple pictures.  Turns out, it was where we were stopping next!

Our destination there was a food sample factory.  In Japanese restaurants there are almost always plastic samples of the meals for sale on display in the windows, so you can have an idea of what you’re ordering before you sit down to eat.  It’s especially handy for we foreigners who often have no idea what we’re ordering.
At this place, we had the opportunity to make some.  We made tempura!   It was actually much simpler than I thought it would be.  We started out with little plastic vegetables and shrimp and fish and stuff.  Then we had yellow wax which we drizzled into a vat of cooler water.  Then we wrapped the plastic food in the wax dribbles.

We also made lettuce out of wax but it turned out really bad.  It was a lot more difficult.
The whole process was pretty cool though.