Takayama

This was where Weh and I went initially, staying in a ryokan. I really enjoyed it, although, as it was my only experience of a smaller town in Japan, I didn't really have much for comparison.

I really recommend staying in a ryokan (tradition inn), especially one with an onsen (hot bath), although I suspect most may have that.

Some highlights were Hida Takayama Shunei Kaikan (lacquerware museum) and sake breweries, although these may not be unique to this town. Hida-no-Sato (Hida folk village) was decent though. Old houses that were to be demolished had been preserved and reconstructed in this area. Fairly interesting for a couple of hours...

I also recommend stepping into a Pachinko place for a few minutes, if you happen to pass one. It's kind of like pokies crossed with vertical pinball... Quite strange, and hard to explain unless you see the oddness.

I guess in retrospect there is not too much specific to Takayama that I know definitively makes it better than any other village, but let me know if you intend on staying there and I can provide more information. I guess we stayed there for what I thought was a good length of time (2-3 days), seeing as our overall trip was so short. But I suppose with these kind of towns there is only ever so much to do...

One small tip: if you catch a train trip that includes several legs, and if you get numerous tiny tickets, insert them all at once into the machine. I was fooled by this for a while... :)