Have you heard of the historic villages of Shirakawa-go(白川郷, しらかわごう) and Gokayama(五箇山, ごかやま)in Japan? The villages are registered as one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites since 1995.

The site is located in the central Japan, between the border of Gifu and Toyama prefectures. These villages are known for “Gassho style” houses.The gassho style is characterized by steep, thatched roofs, forming a triangle shape.These steep roofs connect over massive wooden beams, shaped like hands folded in prayer, and that’s exactly what Gassho(合掌、がっしょう)means in Japanese.

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Each Gassho style house has a multi-layer structure. This area has such a heavy snowfalls every winter, so the houses are unique to the region. The roof has an impressive slope of 60° to allow the heavy snow (sometimes as much as 4 meters) to slide off more easily. They have to be able to endure the heavy snowfalls of winter. The 3rd and 4th floors are designed so farmers are able to raise silkworms even in the harsh winters. The area for the silkworms is up in the attic where the heat from the first & second floors, filled with people and activity, rises up. It is said that there used to be an estimated 300 Gassho style houses in Shirakawa-go, of which only 114 remain today. The oldest of these is said to be about three centuries old and is still in daily use.

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In Shirakawa-go Village, the Ogi-machi district is the largest settlement, located midway between cities of Takayama and Kanazawa. A relaxing day-trip tour to Shirakawa-go is possible by a one-hour bus ride from Takayama City, but an overnight stay at a historic Gassho-style house inn is highly recommended.  If you made a trip out to this area, you have to stay at the historic inn at the village!

For those who would like to know more about these villages, take a look at the following video made by UNESCO.  It will give you a nice overview of this World Heritage Sites!

Click here to watch the video on Youtube.