Miyagawa Morning Market, Gifu

Every morning, white-tented stalls line the Miyagawa River in Hida-Takayama. Chat with local farmers over seasonal vegetables, pickles and soy-glazed dango.

Market stalls and shops under the Miyagawa Morning Market banner in Takayama — Photo: くろふね, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Tented stalls selling local produce beside the river at the Miyagawa Morning Market — Photo: z tanuki, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

A Takayama market with 200 years of history

The Miyagawa Morning Market is an asaichi (an open-air market held only in the morning) that takes place almost every morning on the east bank of the Miyagawa River, which runs through the centre of Takayama in Gifu Prefecture. Along with the markets of Wajima (Ishikawa Prefecture) and Katsuura (Chiba Prefecture), it is counted as one of Japan's three great morning markets.

Takayama's morning markets are said to have begun around 1820 as a market for mulberry leaves (food for silkworms) held around Takayama Betsuin, a Buddhist temple. In 1894 a market began where farming women sold vegetables and flowers they had grown themselves. The Miyagawa market grew after the war, and in 1962 it moved to its present riverside site for road safety reasons.

What can you buy?

White-tented stalls stretch for about 700 m along the river, from Kaji-bashi Bridge to Yayoi-bashi Bridge. You will find locally grown vegetables and fruit, sansai (wild mountain greens), tsukemono (pickles) and flowers, as well as folk crafts and snacks to eat on the spot.

Hida specialities on sale include red turnip pickles, fruit such as Hida apples and peaches, and folk crafts such as sarubobo (a faceless doll charm made of red cloth). The goods change with the seasons: mountain greens in spring, peaches and vegetables in summer, apples and newly harvested rice in autumn, and mochi (rice cakes) and pickles in winter.

Chatting with the sellers

The joy of the market is buying straight from the people who made or grew things. The stalls are run by local farmers and producers, who are happy to tell you how to eat or cook what they sell if you ask. Hearing the local Hida dialect is part of the morning market experience too.

Takayama also has the Jinya-mae Morning Market, held in the square in front of Takayama Jinya (a government office building from the Edo period), and you can walk between the two markets.

Getting there and opening times

The market is about 10 minutes' walk from JR Takayama Station. It is held only in the morning, from early until around midday, and starts later in winter. Check the official website for exact times.

There is no large car park nearby. Takayama's tourism association recommends staying in Takayama the night before, leaving your car at your accommodation and walking to the market.