Most people who go to Takayama never make it to Hida Furukawa, even though it sits just up the train line. That’s a shame, because Furukawa has the same white walled storehouses and old merchant streets as Takayama, without the crowds. Locals sometimes call it the quiet twin of Takayama, and once you’ve walked both towns you’ll see why. It suits a slow morning rather than a rushed afternoon, so treat it as a half day add-on, not a quick stop between trains.
Getting There From Takayama
Furukawa sits on the JR Takayama line, a few stops north of Takayama itself. The local train takes about fifteen minutes and runs once or twice an hour, so you rarely wait long.
A Nohi bus covers the same route in thirty to forty minutes and costs around 380 yen, which suits anyone without a rail pass. Either way, you can leave your bags in Takayama and treat this as a there and back trip rather than changing base entirely.
The Canal and the Old Town
The heart of Furukawa is the Setogawa canal, a narrow channel that runs past white walled storehouses called shirakabe dozogai. Hundreds of koi swim in the water from April through November.
You can buy pellets from a machine on the bridge if you want to feed them. The town moves the koi to a winter pond once the canal becomes a snow drain in winter. Don’t expect to see them if you visit between late November and early April.
The old merchant street, Ichinomachi, still has its original wooden shopfronts and lattice doors. Walk it slowly and it takes maybe twenty minutes end to end, though most people stop every few metres for a photo.
Spring brings cherry blossom along the canal, and autumn brings the colour of the leaves, so both are worth planning around if you can.
The Sake Breweries
Furukawa has brewed sake for centuries, and two breweries still work in the old town today. Watanabe Shuzoten is the best known. The Watanabe family founded it in 1870, and the ninth generation now runs the business. Its flagship brand is called Hourai, and the brewery topped the World Sakagura Ranking in 2020.
An English language tour currently needs booking at least two weeks ahead, runs for about an hour and costs around 5,000 yen. It’s worth checking the current price and schedule before you go, since both can change. Kaba Shuzoten is smaller and quieter, and it’s worth a stop if you want to compare styles between the two.
The Festivals
The Furukawa Festival runs every year on the 19th and 20th of April. The first night is Okoshi Daiko, when half naked men carry a huge drum through the streets and packed crowds try to touch it first. The second day is quieter, with tall decorated floats moving through the old town. If you can’t make it in April, the floats live year round at the Furukawa Festival Exhibition Hall.
You can still see them up close and learn how they’re built. A smaller festival called Santera Mairi happens every 15th of January, when over a thousand candles light the riverbanks near three local temples.
The Your Name Connection
Furukawa Station and the small library nearby both appear in the 2016 anime film Your Name, and fans still travel here just to see them. The overpass above the platform and the taxi stand outside are the parts people recognise most. Inside the library, part of the study area matches a scene from the film, though you’ll need to ask at the desk before taking photos.
Fans often point to Keta Wakamiya Shrine, a short walk from the station, as a model for the story’s shrine, though nobody has confirmed it.
The film’s town, Itomori, isn’t a real place. It’s a mix of several real locations across Japan, and the lake in the story comes from Lake Suwa in Nagano, not from Hida. Furukawa lent its streets and its station, not its scenery in full.
Practical Notes
Furukawa makes a great half day trip from Takayama, though a full day gives you time for a brewery tour and an unhurried walk. Renting a bicycle at the station is a good way to cover more ground if you’re short on time.
There isn’t much need to book anything in advance except the brewery tour, which needs the most lead time of anything in this piece. Trains back to Takayama run once or twice an hour rather than continuously.
Check the timetable before you set off rather than assuming you can catch one whenever you’re ready.
