Autumn for Foodies: A 5-Day, 4-Night Gourmet Journey in Central Japan

Text by Chi Binghui | Compiled & Reported Source: MOOK Editorial Department

As the cool autumn breeze sets in and the season of bountiful produce arrives, food-loving gourmets are ready to indulge. Head to the Hokuriku region of central Japan, a melting pot of exquisite flavors, to savor local and signature dishes that will delight your taste buds to the fullest. Coupled with the healing beauty unique to autumn—whether it’s the crimson leaves in the mountains or freshly fallen snow—all are as breathtaking as a painting. After feasting, take a leisurely stroll through these scenic wonders, and end the day with a relaxing soak in an onsen. It’s the perfect way to reward yourself for a year of hard work.

DAY 1: Toyama & Takayama (Takayama Jin’ya → Old Town of Takayama → Green Hotel Takayama)

Recommended Spot: Old Town of Takayama

The Old Town of Takayama is a well-known traditional architectural preservation district in the area. The southern half (San-machi Old Street) is particularly well-preserved, featuring many old houses, shops, and cafés, some of which have been in business for several centuries. During the Edo period (1600–1868), this area was bustling with merchants and buildings, making the city prosperous. Today, a few structures in the Old Town have been converted into museums open to the public, showcasing local handicrafts and offering visitors a glimpse into the former residences of local merchants. Other attractions include Takayama Jin’ya, the Fuji Art & Folk Museum, the Hida Folk Village Archaeological Museum, the Hirata Memorial Museum, the Takayama City Local History Museum, Hachiman Shrine, the Takayama Yatai Kaikan (Festival Float Museum), the Kusakabe Folk Craft Museum, the Yoshijima Family Residence, and the Takayama Morning Market.

DAY 2: Toyama & Takayama & Shirakawa-go (Miyagawa Morning Market → Sakaguchi-ya → Shirakawa-go Gassho-style Houses)

Recommended Spot: Sakaguchi-ya

Sakaguchi-ya is a traditional Japanese restaurant on San-machi Old Street that serves local Hida cuisine. The dining area retains the old-world charm of traditional Takayama townhouses. The menu features set meals centered around Hida beef, such as Hida beef steak, Hida beef rice bowls, Hida beef sushi, and Hida beef on magnolia leaf with miso.

Recommended Spot: Gassho-style Houses

The legendary and secluded Shirakawa-go Gassho Village in Japan is a quiet mountain village surrounded by hills, crisscrossed with rice fields and rivers, dotted with over a hundred traditional thatched-roof wooden houses that look like something out of a fairy tale. Located in Gifu Prefecture, bordering Toyama and Ishikawa prefectures, the village has a population of only about 1,900 people. Its iconic gassho-zukuri (thatched roof) houses are mainly concentrated in Ogimachi. From the vantage point of Shirakura Castle Ruins (Shirakura-yama) atop the hill, you can look down upon the more than one hundred thatched-roof houses, whose scenery changes beautifully with each season.

DAY 3: Kanazawa (Omicho Market → Kenrokuen Garden → Higashi Chaya District → Izakaya Rikyu)

Recommended Spot: Kenrokuen Garden

Kanazawa’s Kenrokuen Garden is ranked as one of Japan’s Three Great Gardens, along with Okayama’s Korakuen and Mito’s Kairakuen. Originally built in 1676 by the 5th lord of the Kaga Domain, Maeda Tsunanori, as a pond-side villa and garden for Kanazawa Castle, Kenrokuen was further developed by successive lords. Especially under the 13th lord, Harunaga, who excavated Kasumiga-ike Pond, the garden achieved its current form and layout. It embodies the “Six Attributes of a Perfect Landscape” described in the Chinese Song Dynasty text “A Record of Famous Gardens in Luoyang” by Li Gefei—extensiveness, seclusion, artifice, antiquity, water features, and panoramas—thus earning the name “Kenrokuen,” meaning “Garden of Six Sublimities.” Originally part of Kanazawa Castle, Kenrokuen is a classic strolling garden from the Edo period.