Mini Takayama Festival

Visiting Takayama with Pearl, an incredible stroke of luck: the Takayama festival, which we've now managed to miss 5 times, put on a special first-time-ever "extra" mini festival on the very weekend we happened to be there. The festival floats (sort of mini-shrines) were out on the streets and were lit up and paraded at night. Monks, children, puppetry and lanterns abounded.

Adventures in Furukawa

Near Takayama is a tiny town called Furukawa, which we'd heard was renowned for its canals, old houses and warehouses, and temples. We checked it out with Pearl and, lo and behold, just as in Takayama there was a special once-only wheel-out-the-floats day underway. There were also children doing lion-dances to encourage shop-owners to donate money to their shrine. Furukawa was truly beautiful, full of surprisingly gracious (and large) temples, quiet streets and flitting carp.