Arrival at Hida Furukawa
The next day, we set off to Hida Furukawa where we had been invited to stay with our friend Kosuke's parents. The town is located in Gifu Prefecture in what is sometimes called the Japanese Alps. To get there, We took the shinkansen to Nagoya and then changed to another train which headed through the mountains towards the Sea of Japan.
Kosuke's father, Hiroshi-san was waiting for us at the station. We hopped into his car and headed into the old section of town where the traditional atmosphere of Japan has been preserved. A canal full of colorful koi lines the sidewalk. It is called the Seto River because it was developed about 400 years ago by Genbei Setoya, the caretaker of Masushima castle. The town is also known for its white wall clay storehouses where the floats used in the annual Furukawa Festival are stored.
