Many of you who have traveled to Takayama via train have probably passed right by Gero Onsen. Sadly, there isn’t a lot of attention paid to it in the guidebooks but I found it an extremely walkable town (albeit a bit of a climb to get to the folk village at the top of the city) with some stunning fall foliage. I also managed to track down a colored manhole cover, which can feel like a rarity some days:
I’m not entirely sure what the bird (a heron, perhaps?) means for Gero Onsen. I DO know that there are several manhole covers with frogs on them scattered around town, a humorous play on words as the Japanese sound for a frog croaking is gero, gero. I’m still not sure how I managed to miss getting a picture of one of those but I thought the heron was nice and I did actually get to see a heron while walking along the banks of the river in Ujo Park.
Uncover Japan 
Gero Onsen is one of Japan’s three best onsen towns. We enjoyed walking around the town and soaking our aching feet in the many ashiyu (foot spa) dotted around the town, which are free to use and enjoy.
I love that the footbaths were free. What a nice treat!