Takayama, Gifu Prefecture, Chūbu Region, Japan

🇯🇵 Takayama (高山市) is a city located in Gifu, Japan. It is the largest city by area in Japan. The high altitude and separation from other areas of Japan kept the area fairly isolated, allowing Takayama to develop its own culture over about a 300-year period.

Geography Takayama is located in northern Gifu Prefecture, in the heart of the Japanese Alps. Mount Hotakadake is the highest point in the city at 3,190 metres (10,470 ft). The city has the largest geographic area of any municipality in Japan.

Neighbouring municipalities

• Gifu Prefecture: ◦ Hida; ◦ Gujō; ◦ Gero; ◦ Shirakawa; • Nagano Prefecture ◦ Ōmachi; ◦ Matsumoto; ◦ Kiso; Toyama Prefecture ◦ Toyama; Ishikawa Prefecture ◦ Hakusan; Fukui Prefecture ◦ Ōno.

Economy The economy of Takayama is strongly based on tours, agriculture and woodworking.

History The area around Takayama was part of traditional Hida Province and was settled as far back as the Jōmon period. During the Sengoku period, Kanamori Nagachika ruled the area from Takayama Castle and the town of Takayama developed as a castle town. During the Edo period, the area was tenryō under the direct control of the Tokugawa shogunate. In the post-Meiji Restoration cadastral reforms, Ōno District in Gifu prefecture was created, and the town of Takayama was established in 1889 with the creation of the modern municipalities system. At the time, it was the most populous municipality in Gifu Prefecture. On November 1, 1936, Takayama merged with the town of Onada, forming the city of Takayama. Takayama annexed the village of Josue in 1943 and the village of Ohachiga in 1955. On February 1, 2005, the town of Kuguno and the villages of Asahi, Kiyomi, Miya, Nyūkawa, Shōkawa, and Takane (all from Ōno District), the town of Kokufu, and the village of Kamitakara (both from Yoshiki District) were created to merge and expanded city of Takayama. This made Takayama both the largest city and largest municipality in Japan by area.

Government Takayama has a mayor-council form of government with a directly elected mayor and a unicameral city legislature of 24 members.

Education: Universities • Gifu University – Takayama Watershed Area Science Research Centre • Kyoto University – Hida Observatory • Nagoya University – Takayama Earthquake Observatory

Education: Primary and Secondary Takayama has 19 public elementary schools and 12 public middle schools operated by the city government. The city has three public high schools operated by the Gifu Prefectural Board of Education, and one private high school.

Transport: Rail JR Tōkai – Takayama Main Line • Nagisa – Kuguno – Itonuki – Hida-Ichinomiya – Takayama – Hozue – Hida-Kokufu

Transport: Road • Tōkai-Hokuriku Expressway • Chūbu-Jūkan Expressway • National Route 41 • National Route 156 • National Route 158 • National Route 257 • National Route 361 • National Route 471 • National Route 472.