Takayama

We arrived at Takayama to snow!! Snow capped trees, snow on the pavement, snow everywhere. We don't see snow in Melbourne, except when one goes up to the mountains for skiing during winter so you can understand why this is a big deal to me. We were not prepared for it though, so keeping our feet dry was a challenge.





A shrine with sarubobo's. Sarubobo (left of the picture, hanging from the pegs) is literally translated as monkey baby and is an amulet associated with Takayama. It is a faceless human shaped doll, traditionally made by grandmothers to be given to their granddaughters as a charm for a good marriage, easy childbirth (monkeys have easy childbirth) and good relationships.



A Hello Kitty sarubobo