Center 4 Hamburgers - Takayama Days

October 20, 2025

“These days, all we ever really get are

Days to dream, and days to lose.

I just need to choose my time.”

• Ingrid Ellen Michaelson

These past few days our pace has slowed a bit.  The Russian Roulette of hotel rooms when traveling at last paid off with a comfortable room and bed. We decided to rest and take things slower for a few days.

We are in a good place to accomplish that goal.  This is Takayama in the Hida Prefecture of Japan.  It is located in the Northern Alps and can get as much as eight feet of snow in the winter!

Kyoto Japan is the well known scenic capital of Japan attracting millions of travelers every year - we will be visiting ourselves in the coming weeks.  But, its popularity has meant excessive crowds.  So several towns, like Takayama, advertise themselves as “Little Kyoto” in hopes of attracting more visitors.  We are pleased to report it lives up to the hype.

So many dogs in strollers!

The main appeal of the city  is walking through its historical neighborhoods filled with Edo era buildings, charming shops, shrines, and really good food.  Ornate bridges span the clear Miyagawa river.  It is remarkable how clear and sparkling the river looks despite the surrounding city.  We have seen this over and over again.  Even drainage ditches in the old neighborhoods are free of refuse.  Japan can teach us a lot about taking care of the environment and the benefits of such attention to detail.

So here are some images from those unhurried explorations.  This was a nearby Shinto temple that had a 1200 year old Ginko tree on its grounds!

A 1200 year old Ginko Tree!

The Miyagawa River with an outdoor market running along side its shore.  A Greater Egret put on a show fishing where the water was breaking over rocks.

Takayama holds two very large cultural festivals associated with Fall and Springs.  They are very old dating back many decades.  This was a museum we visited that displayed the over the top ornate floats used in the parade.  Each one is a work of art.

Next door was a scale model carved from wood of the Tosho-gu Temple that housed the Shogun’s grave we visited in Nikko earlier.

We were hungry.  There were so many restaurants to choose from.  But our guidebook had a singular recommendation that caught our attention.

“Center 4 Hamburgers” is an unusual name.  There are many places you can go to get Americana fare including McDonalds.  We have found consistently as we have traveled that common American dishes like pizza and hamburgers are often not very good in other countries.  Anymore than you would expect to find great Spanish food in Indianapolis.  There may be exceptions to this rule, but in our experience they are rare.

So it was with some trepidation we went in.

Inside was an eclectic cluttered vibe filled with antique Americana memorabilia.  The owner said he had been collecting antiques over 30 years.  It showed.  There were only a few tables and they surrounded the bar which also housed the main kitchen.  It was intimate, and absorbing.  It felt like eating in the kitchen of a hoarder.  There was too much, yet together, it was perfect.

And the soundtrack was only Johnny Cash songs.

So did they deliver a good burger?  Yes!  A good burger depends on flavor, texture, and balance.  A 100% beef patty medium temperature, juicy, and seasoned just right. The first bite dripped, but not too much so the sandwich would fall apart.  The bun was fluffy, slightly sweet but sturdy. enough to stay together.  And just the right amount of toppings, not overloaded.   It was delicious and a real surprise.

(Trip Advisor Pic)

The next day we visited a Hida folk village.   Think of it as a Japanese “Conner Prairie”.  The carefully cultivated antique wood buildings were set off against the coming Fall colors of the surrounding woods.  The sun broke through the morning cloud cover and the light cast over the scene was mesmerizing.

Our last afternoon we again just relaxed walking aimlessly through the old neighborhoods .  We found a popular Soba noodle shop and sampled the local Saki.  There are a number of distilleries here.  I don’t have a sophisticated enough palate to distinguish the differences between Saki varieties.  But it seems important that the clear local water is important to the making of a fine product here.

Takayama was a fine way to spend a few lazy days.

We leave soon for Kanazawa and then Korea for a few days.