HIDA KOKUBUN-JI TEMPLE

This temple would be the oldest in the province (706). It was partly rebuilt in the 16th century. Next to the three-storey pagoda, note the magnificent ginkgo (shield tree) which is supposed to be more than a thousand years old. In the same repertoire, the must would be to go to the small village of Ichinomiya around Takayama. In front of an old disused train station is the oldest cherry tree in the world, a huge Garyō-zakura, the reclining dragon sakura , which is over a thousand years old. It still blooms in the cherry season, it's very impressive.