We weren’t huge fans of Takayama, despite all the hype: perhaps it was the mind-numbing muzac piped through speakers in the modern part of the town, but whatever the reason it took us a while to get into it. Things improved when we discovered the Higashiyama Walking Course, which winds its way though the temple town on the hill above the city, and on which we discovered this beautiful temple bell, as well as a myriad of other gardens, temples, shrines, walls, trees and even two Japanese serow! Things improved even more when we later sampled the local Hida Takayama beef. Yum. Oh.