We will be in Takayama in the fall during a festival. I've been trying to find a place to stay in the town and am having trouble. I started looking in January and did book a place about 2 miles outside the town where the owner has said he will shuttle us back and forth. I've used all the usual booking sites i.e. booking.com, expedia, agoda, Trip Advisor etc. Also checked with Japan Guesthouse and the only places I can find are running close to $400-$500 a day. I'm hoping someone has a place to stay that I may have not discovered or a booking site that I have not looked at. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Have you tried Airbnb? I have been looking around for a possible visit in October/November and then discovered that the Rugby World Cup is in Japan then ( I should have realised as i used to play a lot in my younger days!). Airbnb did seem to have availability where others didn’t. Not sure weather they are actually legal in Japan though.

Also, there is a new way to book Shukubo ( temple lodgings). It is just getting started and I am not sure whether they have anything in Takayama yet but may be wort h a look @ en.terahaku.jp

One of the nicer places we stayed in Japan was in Takayama at Sumiyoshi Ryokan. .

Good luck

We stayed at the Best Western Takayama, and we were pleasantly surprised at how nice it was. The room was a decent size, and the included breakfast was excellent. It is right near the train station, but the rooms were quiet. We got a stay two nights, get a third free deal, so see if there is any promotions available.

Funny you mentioned the BW, Californialady. When I saw the OP I went straight to their website and saw that there was no availability for the festival dates.

Yes, they were booked back in January.