Clear the Takayama Local Quiz and earn the Takayama Local title. Want to know Hida Takayama even better, or already confident? The tougher courses are next.
Takayama Matsuri is not one festival but two — the spring Sanno Festival and the autumn Hachiman Festival, each with its own ornate floats. That distinction is exactly the kind of thing this quiz cares about. Its range runs from the Kanamori lords' castle town and the Takayama Jinya, seat of shogunal administration, through Hida beef, hoba miso, and Takayama ramen, and on to the gassho-zukuri farmhouses of Shirakawa-go. The carpentry lineage of the Hida no Takumi, ichii itto-bori woodcarving, and the morning markets all appear along the way. The daily challenge question offers a first taste of what each rank expects of you.
Q1.Gifu Prefecture is broadly divided into the "Mino" region and the "Hida" region. Which one is Takayama part of?
Mino region
Hida region
Ise region
Shinano region
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Correct answerHida region
Gifu Prefecture is broadly split into the southern Mino region and the northern Hida region, and Takayama is the central hub city of the Hida region. The two regions trace back to separate ancient provinces, Mino and Hida, and the mountains dividing them mean Hida still carries a noticeably different dialect and climate from Mino.
Q2.This transportation hub serves city bus routes plus buses to Shin-Hotaka and Shirakawa-go, and highway buses to Nagoya and Osaka. What is it?
Takayama Airport Terminal
Hida-Kiyomi Interchange
Takayama Jinya Plaza
Takayama Nohi Bus Center
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Correct answerTakayama Nohi Bus Center
Takayama Nohi Bus Center is the transportation hub for Hida-Takayama tourism: besides local city bus routes, it also serves buses toward Shin-Hotaka and Shirakawa-go and highway buses to major cities such as Nagoya and Osaka. It sits almost next to JR Takayama Station, so visitors can switch between train, local bus, and long-distance bus after only a short walk.
Q3.Which of the following correctly describes the definition of the branded beef "Hida beef"?
Only dairy cattle (Holstein) qualify
Cattle such as Japanese Black that meet certain standards set by Gifu Prefecture
Any cattle born in Gifu Prefecture, regardless of breed
Cattle raised anywhere in Japan can use the "Hida beef" name
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Correct answerCattle such as Japanese Black that meet certain standards set by Gifu Prefecture
Hida beef is a Gifu Prefecture brand of cattle, such as Japanese Black, that meets standards set by the Hida Beef Brand Promotion Council. Only cattle that clear several conditions, including having spent the longest stretch of their life raised within Gifu Prefecture, may carry the name, so the certification rewards how an animal was raised rather than simply where it was born.
Q4.Takayama City's total area is roughly equal to which Japanese prefecture's area?
Kagawa Prefecture
Osaka Prefecture
Tokyo
Shiga Prefecture
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Correct answerTokyo
Tokyo is correct. Takayama City's area is comparable to that of the whole of Tokyo. After merging with nine surrounding towns and villages in 2005, it became the single largest city by area in Japan, even though its population is only about one percent of Tokyo's, spread thinly across that vast territory.
Q5.Arrange the following milestones concerning the Takayama Festival floats and float event, from oldest to newest.
The 23 festival floats are designated Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties
The float event itself is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property
It is inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list as one of the "Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan"
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Correct answerThe 23 festival floats are designated Important Tangible Folk Cultural Properties → The float event itself is designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property → It is inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list as one of the "Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan"
The Takayama Festival floats were designated an Important Tangible Folk Cultural Property on June 9, 1960 (Showa 35), and the float event itself was designated an Important Intangible Folk Cultural Property on February 3, 1979 (Showa 54). Then in 2016, together with 33 festivals nationwide, it was inscribed on the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage list as one of the "Yama, Hoko, Yatai, float festivals in Japan."
