Shiroyama Park Audio Guide

Shiroyama Park: what does the audio guide cover?

1. 01

   Welcome to Shiroyama Park

   Welcome to Shiroyama Park, in Takayama, in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. In Japanese it is written 城山公園, and the name means castle mountain. Detailed records of the park's individual corners are modest, so on this walk I'll tell you what is solidly known: how the park began, the ground it sits on, and the remarkable town around it. The park covers 24.3 hectares, about 60 acres, in the mountainous area around the ruins of Takayama Castle. That is a lot of green space for a place that lies a short walk from one of Japan's best-preserved old towns. Takayama sits in the Hida Mountains region, and this hillside is part of its story. So settle in. We'll look at the castle that gave the park its name, the monuments tucked among the trees, and the long, quiet culture that grew up in these mountains.

2. 02

   The Castle Mountain of Shiroyama Park

   Everything here begins with a castle. Shiroyama Park occupies the former site of Takayama Castle, which dates to the sixteenth century. It was built in the late 1500s by Lord Kanamori Nagachika, a name worth remembering because the castle he raised shaped the town below it. The castle itself is gone, and what remains is the hill. In 1873 the park was established in the mountainous area around the castle's ruins. That is why the park's name, castle mountain, is so literal. You are not visiting a garden designed from scratch. You are walking on the high ground where a lord once looked down on his town. There is an easy-to-miss link to the wider town as well. Takayama flourished as a castle town during the Tokugawa period, from 1603 to 1867. So when you stand on this hillside, you are standing at the origin point of the town spread out below.

3. 03

   Monuments Among the Trees in Shiroyama Park

   Part of the pleasure of Shiroyama Park is that it holds small historical treasures among the trees. Within the park you can find a memorial to the poet Kyoshi Takahama, and a stone lantern dedicated to a local folk hero. They are modest markers, the kind you find by wandering rather than by following a crowd. A poet's memorial and a folk hero's lantern say something about how people have treated this hill. It was not only a fortress site. It became a place where a community chose to remember its own people. The park also works as a gateway. From here you can reach the Hikaru Museum, and the nearby Takayama Jinya, a preserved government building from the Edo period. If you like to connect a quiet hilltop to the stories in the streets below, this is a very good place to do it.

4. 04

   Mountains, Snow and Festivals Around Shiroyama Park

   Zoom out for a moment and consider the town this park belongs to. Takayama covers 2,177.61 square kilometers, which makes it the largest city by area in Japan. Its high altitude and its separation from other parts of the country kept the area fairly isolated, and that isolation allowed Takayama to develop its own culture over about 300 years. The mountains also give the town a strong sense of season. Summers are hot and humid, winters are mild by the standards of snow country, and Takayama lies in one of Japan's heavy snow areas, with snowfall on most days through the winter. Picture this castle hill under a white blanket, and the name castle mountain takes on a different mood. The town's calendar is anchored by two festivals each year: Sanno Matsuri in spring and Hachiman Matsuri in autumn. And the Higashiyama Walking Course, a route through the east of the city, passes many shrines and temples on its way to Shiroyama Park. Walking it is a lovely way to arrive, moving from temple grounds up to the old castle hill.

5. 05

   Before You Head Off from Shiroyama Park

   Shiroyama Park is a place of layers: a castle raised in the late 1500s, ruins that became a public park in 1873, and small monuments waiting among the trees. It is easy to enjoy it simply as a green pause above the old town. If you are curious, let the park lead you onward. The Higashiyama Walking Course threads past shrines and temples, and the Takayama Jinya and the Hikaru Museum are close by. Getting to the park from Takayama Station takes roughly a 20-minute walk through the old town, a route that is part of the experience. As you wander, look for the quiet details, like the poet's memorial and the stone lantern, and ask yourself what a town chooses to remember. The answer is written all over this hillside.