Takayama Weekend

Since it's almost the end of August, maybe I should catch you up a little on July? What do you think? We had the wonderful privilege of being invited to Takayama by our Japanese sensei (teacher) and her husband.  He is an lead architect for his firm and the company recently restored an old style Japanese home.  They use it mainly for business groups.  It was rebuilt very modern inside and the details were stunning.  I may have to do this in two posts because we got to do some fun sightseeing as well.  

 A river runs through it.  ;-)

We got there barely in time to visit the morning market.  

This little lady mixes up the spices to your request.  I admit that I haven't tried mine yet.  

I'm pretty sure that the bright red is chili powder.  

 This sweet family was getting a custom mix.

Busy holiday shoppers.

I couldn't believe how this guy was parked.  Parking is a premium in Japan.  He evidently wanted to park close to home and hopefully had some assistance.  If you look closely you will see that he is straddling a narrow, but deep drainage canal.  

This is the front of the "villa" we stayed in. 

Most shops, restaurants, and some homes have these curtains that hang in the doorways. They are called Noren and are used sort of like screens.  Here's some information on them.

 My favorite part was the back garden.

This was our bedroom.  We had singles, but all the rooms did, so it was fine. 

It is used for company events so it makes sense.

On the other side of our beds was this desk that was the length of the room.  It was down low, but there was space for your legs.  It was a nice workspace.  Great for putting on makeup with that natural light coming in.  ;-)

One of my other favorite spots was the back of the house where you could sit and enjoy the garden view.  The floors were designed to look like faux wood grain. 

 This is the main eating/lounging area.  Fortunately under this table is an area for your feet.  That was a relief to us Westerners.  You can see on the left the cut through to the kitchen.  You make tea in the middle of the table and underneath those boxes are heating units for grilling, I believe.

More gorgeous floor details.  Faux wood surrounding real wood.

Another friend joined us for the weekend and we ate some delicious meals.

 The front entry of the home. These walls were concrete with a gorgeous wood floor.

 The detail on this piece was amazing.  The glass had been "etched" somehow with fabric from an obi.  It was hung with a hand forged piece of iron on a concrete wall.  You can see some other fiber in the glass on the right of the wall.

 Here was another hand forged shelf in a little alcove.  

The flower was a little spent, but the idea was fabulous!

 The walls on the left were new, the ones on the right were original.

Very difficult to photograph all the amazing details of this house.

Kitchen

I actually got a picture of the streets of Takayama when they were empty.  It was later in the evening and everyone was probably eating dinner or had gone home.  It's lined with traditional style houses that are mainly used as shops and restaurants now.

Night!