Hida Takayama and its Miyagawa River where Koi swim free

Hida Takayama is a city in the mountainous Hida region in Central Japan that is easily accessible from Nagoya or even Kyoto by train. The city has many attractions such as its beautifully preserved old town, morning markets, Hida Folk Village, preserved buildings and its festivals during spring and autumn. I travelled to Takayama the evening before, by bus from Kanazawa via Shirakawago and had planned to use Takayama as a base to explore the surrounding area.

There were two morning markets in Takayama and these were worth seeing while visiting Takayama.   While I was on my way to the Jinya Morning Market, I had to cross the red coloured Nakabashi Bridge over the Miyagawa River. Something red caught my eye in the waters below.

I could not believe my eyes that such a beautiful sanke would be swimming free and wild in the river below. I quickly scan the water for more and I saw a few other koi in the river.  The river was also supporting other wildlife like a heron that was hunting on the rocks. The water quality in the river must be good to support such big fishes. 

From the Jinya Mae morning market, I walked along the streets of Takayama towards the other morning market, located  on a road along the Miyagawa River and aptly called the Miyagawa Morning Market. Miyagawa Market was busier and has more stalls than the Jinya Market.

May is the month where Children’s Day is celebrated. Giant Koi-nobori or carp streamers were swaying over the Miyagawa River. In Japanese culture, the carp symbolizes courage and strength because of its ability to swim against the current and up a waterfall. In the old days, it was celebrated as the Boys' Festival, and one streamer was hung for every boy in the family, expressing hope that each boy in the family will grow up healthy and strong like wild carps. Now, it is changed to Children’s Day which includes also daughters.

Beneath the carp streamers were more real life wild carps, playing and feeding in the river.

Koi and carps were living well in the river. Some tourist were feeding them with food bought from an enterprising stall.

I think the Koi would have survived without the handouts from the tourists. The ecosystem in the river would have been clean, balanced and good to sustain these fishes and other wildlife. Awesome!

One last note. If you happen to visit Takayama, don’t just appreciate the Koi and other attractions. You must eat the mouth watering Hida Beef. And time permitting, do a side trip to Hida Furukawa, a sister town near Hida Takayama with even more Koi!

You may enjoy reading about my visit to Takayama in this blog.