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Uchiko
Walking the cobbled hills of Uchiko feels like traveling back in time. Go straight out of the station and follow a wooden sign pointing left to the old shopping street Yokaichi , where the only change in centuries has been the height of plants against the beige-orange walls. You won't need more than a morning to poke through the fun shops, full of good, cheap omiyage: straw pinwheels, tea leaves, sour tsukemono, and local sake. The highlight is a waxworks, where an old man and his sons hand-make distinctive candles (the smaller ones are as surprisingly inexpensive as the larger are surprisingly costly).
There are a few sights—old merchant houses and an impressive turn-of-the-century kabuki theater, Uchiko Za, notable for hosting a performance by the famous Kodo Taiko group every October—but Uchiko is more of a meandering town. A path between houses reveals a hillside of peach trees and wildflowers; open doorways lead to secluded gardens with men playing shogi, or the occasional restaurant. One thing is not to be missed, however; at the very end of the road you'll crest a final hill and see a mountainous statue of the sleeping Buddha reclining across the lap of enlightenment. It's the last thing you'd expect to find in this sleepy town—especially since it isn't marked on a single tourist map or guidebook anywhere else.
