stripsofthemarbledmeatarecooked
overa f lameatyourtable,ataround
theprincelysumof$50for 100 grams.
Ourhirecarwasa little(butwel-
coming)metalboxonwheels.Most
Japanesecarsseemedtobeinthis
cubestyle(nodoubttofitonthe
narrowroads),andalthoughours
lookedsmallfromtheoutside,there
wasplentyofroominsideformyhus-
bandandI andourtwolankyteenag-
ers.Thebootwasanotherstory.For-
tunatelyforus,wehadthisinmind
whenwepackedoursuitcasesback
inAustralia,exchanginga coupleof
largecasesforfourcarry-onsized
bags.Thesefittedperfectlyandgave
usa littleextraroomtobuya bagfor
alloursouvenirs.
Asourfriendsandfamily back
homekepta nervousvigilonreports
oftheescalatingscaleofthetyphoon,
itheraldeditsarrivalinTakayama
withjustabitofdrizzle.However,
theraindidn’tdampenourspirits.As
wehada carwecoulddrivetosome
oftheattractionsontheoutskirtsof
town and stay dry, plus we’d just hadLefttoright:enjoyingthe mountain views from an outdooronsen; breakfast ofTYPHOONWARNING
WepickedupourhirecarinTakay-
ama–an historic villageinthe
GifuPrefectureandthegateway
totheJapaneseAlps–ontheday
atyphoonwastohitJapan’smain
islandofHonshu.We’dspentthe
previousdaywanderingthroughits
narrowstreets.Linedwithwooden
merchants’housesandlatticedwin-
dows,thebuildingsdatebacktothe
EdoPeriod(1603-1868)andaresafe-
guardedagainstfuturedevelopment
bya TraditionalBuildingsPreserva-
tionArealaw.
Many ofthesehistoric houses
havebeenconvertedintomuseums
andshops,whichsellallmannerof
handicraftsanddelicaciesfromthe
localHidaarea,suchasgyuuman
(beefinsoftdoughbuns);mitarashi
dango(gelatinousriceformedinto
littleround dumplings);matcha
(greentea)icecream,sakeandcraft
beer.Themostfamousfoodfromthis
areaisHidabeef,abreedofJapa-
neseblackcattlefarmedintheclean
mountainousregion. Traditionally,
READER’S DIGEST
108 April 2020