Unusual hotels and food in Japan: From heritage ryokan to Hida beef, Miyajima oysters and Kanazawa curry

Like many Singaporeans, my family loves visiting Japan. I’ve been to Japan eight times but mostly stuck to Tokyo. This time, travelling with my teenage son in June, we ventured further – to five different cities.

One reason was because we were already buying a 14-day JR Pass (47,250 yen or S$459 at press time; a seven-day pass costs 29,650 yen; a 21-day pass 60,450 yen), which allows unlimited travel on all local and high-speed trains throughout Japan. Come October 2023, prices will increase by at least 65 per cent, so we decided to make our money’s worth during our trip.    

Japan is split into eight regions but to cut down on travelling time, we skipped Hokkaido (northern Japan) and Kyushu (far south). Landing in Tokyo in the morning, we hopped onto our first Shinkansen to Takayama via transit at Nagoya.

Takayama, because of its well-preserved Edo-period historical centre – and because we wanted to eat its famous Hida beef. We also wanted to visit the UNESCO World Heritage site of Shirakawa-go, renowned for its unique Gassho-zukuri architecture and a 50-minute bus ride away.