Miyama

Kayabuki no Sato, the thatched village in the Miyama district, has thirty-eight thatched farmhouses of about fifty in the hamlet, most built in the nineteenth century, on a slope above a river in the mountains north of Kyoto - close enough to be a day out and far enough that almost nobody goes. It is a designated preservation district and the houses are lived in. Thatch is the constant problem: roofs need rethatching every few decades, the skills are scarce, and the fire risk is real, which is why the village has water cannons concealed around it that are tested twice a year, in May and December, sending sixty-two jets over the roofs at once for a few minutes - a drill that has become the thing visitors time trips around. A folk museum, an indigo dyer, a soba restaurant and a small gallery are in the hamlet. Winter snow lighting runs for a few evenings.

What you actually see

• Thirty-eight thatched houses - nineteenth-century farmhouses on a hillside, lived in.
• The water cannon drill - sixty-two concealed jets tested over the roofs in May and December.
• A working hamlet - a preservation district with a folk museum and an indigo dyer.
• Winter snow lighting - a few evenings of illumination in the cold months.

When to go

May or December for the water drill; April to November otherwise. Half a day.

Honest expectations

Buses from the nearest stations are few and slow - a car is much better. It is small and can be walked in an hour. Residents live here and ask for restraint with cameras and voices. Winter roads need care.

Nearby

Kurama is south-east over the hills; Amanohashidate is north.