Hida no Takumi Bunkakan (Hida Craftsmen Culture Hall)

Under a law promulgated in 757, carpenters from Hida Province were permitted to pay their taxes in labor rather than rice, and roughly 100 skilled woodworkers were sent to the capital each year. These craftspeople, called Hida no Takumi, built and maintained some of Japan's most enduring structures, including Todaiji Temple, Kasuga Taisha Shrine, and Ishiyamadera Temple. The arrangement ended in the Kamakura period when the shogunate rewrote the relevant laws, but the reputation of Hida carpenters continued long after. The ornately carved Takayama Festival floats are among their later achievements. By the early 19th century, the craft had expanded to include netsuke and high-quality furniture.