A Glimpse of Old Japan: Shirakawa-go (Picture Book)

In the mountains of central Japan is a village which has retained its face of old. Still now, about 150 buildings with reed-thatched roofs remain. The heavy snowfall has forced the villagers to build the roofs very steeply, a shape reminiscent of hands folded in prayer. These Gassho-zukuri buildings are UNESCO World Heritage, and the village goes by the name of Shirakawa-go (白川村). While some of the old houses have now turned into gift shops, others were kept in their historical state and are publicly accessible. Yet others are Minshuku (Japanese Inns), where visitors can have a flavor of the old Japan, and some are still the homes of the villagers. The houses are quite large and have three stories. From the publicly accessible houses, I got the impression that while the ground floor served as spacious living quarters, the upper floors had rather low ceilings and were mainly used for storage. We stayed in one of old thatched houses overnight, next to the rushing river. From a lookout on a hill next to the village, a beautiful view of the historical houses among the lush rice fields nestled between the surrounding cedar-clad mountains can be enjoyed.
On the other side of the river, there is an open-air museum where several old buildings from surrounding villages have been relocated to. Here, all traces of modern life are missing, and an idyll is created that seems more perfect than the real life in this remote mountainous region can have been in the old days.
Apart from the picturesque old buildings, Shirakawa-go stands out for its remote location in the mountains and is an ideal spot for a break from the busy city and modern life.

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