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Shirakawa-Go

The Shirakawa is a village surrounded by mountains and lies in the northwestern part of Gifu Prefecture. The village surface covers 356.7 square kilometers which is the third largest in the prefecture. Mountains and forests account for 95% of the surface and the remaining 5% the cultivated land. The Shokawa River cuts the village and along the both sides of which 16 hamlets stretch.

Sacred Mount Hakusan or "Koshinoshirane", dominates the landscape, showing its virile and beautiful shape since ancient times. Villagers have worshipped Hakusan the morning and evening. The streams from the southeastern part of Hakusan join and become the mysterious and solemn "Hakusui-no-Taki" Falls. The blue and clear water running through a rush ravine Ohshifakawadani, reaches the Shirakawa River and become a part of it. The name Shirakawa is said to have originated from this clean and blue water since "shira" means white or purity.

In 1995 more than 670,000 tourists visited Shirakawa to admire its Gassho style houses. Bruno Taut,very prominent German architect who visited the Shirakawa-go(district) in 1935 praised Gassho-zukuri in his book "Rediscovering the Beauties of Japan." The houses here with its still vivid traditional Japanese architectural technology add an absolute and calming beauty to the landscape.

The steeply inclined thatched roof of Gassho-zukuri is the unique feature of Shirakawago. The whole Ogimachi-Gasshoshuraku (hamlet) was designated as an Important Traditional Architecture Preservation Area by the government of Japan. The villagers have been making great efforts to preserve it since then. The hamlet is also designated as a World Cultural and Natural Heritage in December 1995. In 1971, the "Association for the Protection of the Natural Environment of Shirakawago Ogimachi area" was also launched to protect this invaluable cultural heritage that was then in danger of imminent disappearance. In the course of the campaign, nine Gassho-zukuri houses of surrounding area which had been deserted or about to be demolished were brought and restored here to be open to the public as "Gassho Mura" in 1972, which was evolved into "Shirakawago Gassho no Sato" in 1983 after going through some repairs and improvements and finally came to have its current name "Gassho-zukuri Minka En (Gassho-zukuri Folklore Park)". 25 Gassho-zukuri houses actually are there in a vast 5.8 ha forest area and visitors can also see demonstrations of the traditional farming.

Takayama SightsAccess