Furukawa Setogawa Canal and Shirakabe-dozo District

A short train ride north of Takayama lies Hida-Furukawa, a small, graceful town whose old quarter is one of the loveliest — and least crowded — historic streetscapes in the region. Its centrepiece is the Setogawa canal district, where a clear stone-lined waterway runs beside a lane of traditional buildings, flanked by the tall white-plastered walls of old sake breweries and storehouses known as shirakabe-dozo. The combination of running water, dark timber, and gleaming white walls, with the mountains rising behind, makes for a scene of quiet perfection that many visitors find even more charming than Takayama's busier old town.

The canal itself is the district's signature. From spring to autumn its waters are home to some hundreds of brightly coloured koi carp, which glide beneath the little bridges and give the lane its famous, tranquil character. There is a practical story behind them: the canal was historically important for fire prevention and daily use, and the carp were introduced in part to keep it clean and to discourage residents from dumping waste. Each winter, when the mountain town's heavy snows arrive and the canal is drained for the season, the fish are carefully moved to a larger wintering pond and returned in spring — so the classic image of carp swimming past the white storehouses belongs to the warmer months.

Along and around the Setogawa stand the buildings that give the district its texture: venerable sake breweries, some still brewing and open for tastings, their presence marked by the traditional cedar-ball sugidama over the door; craft shops; and the imposing Enkoji and Honkoji temples nearby. Hida-Furukawa is also famous for its dramatic Furukawa Matsuri festival each April, centred on the nearby Ketawakamiya Shrine, when men in loincloths parade a great drum through the streets in the raucous 'naked festival' — and the town's festival float storehouses and a dedicated exhibition hall reflect this proud tradition. The town gained wider fame as one of the real-world settings that inspired scenes in the animated film Your Name, and fans still seek out its station and streets.

What makes Hida-Furukawa special is its unhurried authenticity. Because most day-trippers to the Hida region stop only at Takayama or push on to Shirakawa-go, this town remains genuinely quiet, a place where you can walk the canal lane almost alone and feel the rhythm of a small mountain community. The district is flat, paved, and easy to walk, fully accessible, and free to explore; you pay only for tastings or to enter the festival exhibition halls.

Reaching it could hardly be simpler for anyone already in Takayama: local trains on the JR Takayama Line run north to Hida-Furukawa Station in about fifteen minutes, and the canal district is an eight-minute walk from there. Combined with Takayama, it makes a rewarding half-day that reveals a softer, more intimate face of old Hida — well worth the short journey for the carp-lined canal and white-walled storehouses alone.