Shirakawa-go is a small village tucked away in the mountains, along the borders of 3 prefectures – Ishikawa, Toyama, and Gifu. The village is most famous of it’s old farmhouses which have been designed in Gassho-zukuri style. Very similar style of houses are found in the neighboring village of Gokayama. Together, both Gokayama and Shirakawa-go are one UNESCO World Heritage site because of the unique style of buildings.
Gassho-zukuri is a design style is which resembles hands pressed together for prayer. You can see this design style very clearly just by looking at the roofs of the buildings in Shirakawa. The buildings in Shirakawa-go have steep thatched roofs made out of straw, averaging at about 45°, but some buildings have angles up to 60°.
These thatched roofs have no nails holding them together, but remarkably, the roofs are strong enough to hold even when there is a mass amount of snow on the roof. The roofs need to be able to hold a lot of weight because during the winter, up to 2 meters of snow can pile up, yet the roof remains intact. In addition to their strength, the roofs are designed at such an angle that will automatically slide mass amounts of snow off the roof, which helps to maintain the structural integrity of the roofs.
The Gassho-zukuri style houses in Shirakawa have become a tourist destination in Japan. All the buildings are used for either the locals who live there, or for visitors to stay overnight or just to visit.
They usually cost only 9,000JPY per person a night, so if you are in the area, it is highly worth checking out now at Shirakawa Guest Houses.
On certain weekends, usually nearing the end of January / early February, the village has Winter Illuminations, where the locals lit up their houses for a few hours the celebrate the illumination. It attracts plenty of tourists. Some of the buildings in Shirakawa can receive up to 1-2 meters at a time, and when the lights from the buildings reflect on the snow, it creates a magical experience.
Accessing Shirakawa-go
With little public transport options around Shirakawa-go, accessing this attraction is more challenging than others in Japan.
A bus service runs from Nagoya to Shirakawa go, taking approximately 3 hours from start to finish. The price for the journey varies by day, usually costing between 3,000-4,000 JPY one way.
Where To Stay
Onyado Yuinosho
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