Sight seeing in Takayama!

 Okay, just had another long day of sight seeing that ended in me being lost in the rain, again! I started at the above Hida Kokubunji Temple, which was closed but the grounds were open. Another multi-storied pagoda inside which is always interesting.

 This photo is from the Takayama 'Showa Hall' - A small museum which has a collection of artifacts and kitsch from the 50s to the 80s. It was quaint and funny, yet cool also.

 Twice a year Takayama holds a festival where floats such as the ones above are paraded through the streets. There is a centre here which displays some of the floats as you can see. The ticket also got me into a nearby museum with models of temples from the Nikko region. The lighting would slowly dim and brighten to simulate dawn to dusk. I then visited the Hida Folk Archaeological Museum, full of things that don't really interest me, ie bits of rock from 2000 years ago. However the house was really interesting, it used to be a Samurai's house.

I walked to the far side of Takayama, past the station to find this temple - 'Sukyo Mahikari Main World Shrine'. It was a long uphill walk in the rain, and I found the place closed. Then I got completely lost.....
But these things happen when you wander off the boundaries of your map! Takayama is a nice little place, worth a day or two, probably no more. Tomorrow I head to Hiroshima...