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Introduction to Hida Region
 Most
visitors to Japan concentrate around the big 2 cities, Kyoto and Tokyo.
While these two cities provide a good cross section, the modern and the
traditional, Japan is a much more interesting country than that. A good
example would be the Hida region. Smack in the center of Japan, 6 hours
by bus from Tokyo, the Hida region is about the closest you can get to
old Japan. This region used to be quite inaccessible from Tokyo because
it is a largely mountainous region with little industrial activity resulting
in no Shinkansen access. The region, being mountainous also makes access
by bus a troublesome matter. However, a tunnel was opened in 2000, cutting
access time by road by one third. Following the opening of this tunnel,
bus companies have started to run regular lines to this region (fare is
about 6000 yen).
Main attractions around the Hida region are
Takayama City, Shirakawa Go (a Unesco World Cultural and Natural
Heritage Site), Oku Hida Hot Spring Resort and the Japan Alps. A
round trip in this region would probably take around 3 days(if you
really rush things) to a week. Takayama is a good springboard to
Shirakawago, while Oku Hida Hot Spring and the Japan Alps can be
visited on your way back to Tokyo making Hida a side trip from Tokyo
and Kyoto a pretty compact and efficient one.
 Takayama
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