Houses in Shirakawa-go. People still live in those houses in this village.
Pretty river runs through the village
Last month, in middle of Oct., I visited Shirakawa-go and Kiso Magome.
Shirakawa-gō (白川郷, "White River Old-District") is located in the village of Shirakawa in Gifu Prefecture, in central region of Honshu, main island of Japan.
Kiso Magome (木曽馬籠) is an old town flourished in Edo period as "Shukuba-machi" -post town- along the side of Nakasendo(中山道) road which connects Edo(modern-day Tokyo) and Kyoto.
"Gasho-zukuri" (合掌造り) -prayer hands construction-
The style of the houses in this village are very unique.
It's called "Gasho-zukuri"-prayer hands construction-. The name come from the shape of it's roof, looks like two hands joined in prayer.
The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allow the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter.
The houses in Shirakawa-go village are mostly straw-thatched
Changing the straw-thatched roof needs a loot of work
The change of the straw-thatched roof happens every 30-40 years.
* It used to be able to hold longer time (50-60 years or more) but the time became shorter since it is difficult to find the good conditioned straw in recent years. It also needs minor fixing almost every year depending on how much snow fell in the season.
The changing costs a lot of money and lot of work.
Since they became one of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Dec. 1995, they can get financial support from the government.
Working for the changing roof needs many people. The villager help each other to change their house's roof in turn, but since the population of the village are not enough, they depend on contracted workers and volunteer workers.
Entrance to "Kiso Magome"(木曽馬籠)
Kiso Magome located in South-Eastern part of Gifu Prefecture, near the border of Nagano Prefecture.
This old town was thrived in Edo era with full of travelers who needed a food, place to take a rest and stay over night while traveling between Edo (modern-day Tokyo) and Kyoto.
Fortunately, the town is isolated in the country side with the mountains, the houses and the scenery are unobstructed by the modernizing development and keep the taste of Edo era.
Even now, we can still find images of the ancient time from this town.
Old traditional style houses stand beside narrow alley
The town was busy with the people who traveled between Edo and Kyoto in Edo period
I have stayed over night in Gero Onsen "下呂温泉"-hot spring-
Gero Onsen is one of the Japan's top three hot spring -other two are Arima Onsen in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture, and Kusazu Onsen in Gunma Prefecture-.
This hot spring has over 1,000years of history.
View from the hotel room (left), Japanese style room with "Tatami" mat (right)
I have stayed in Suimei-kan (水明館) Hotel, the 80years old hotel has three restaurants, three buildings with three public hot spring bath in each buildings. I have tried all the three public bath in two days (in the afternoon, evening and morning).
Most of the Japanese style "Ryokan" hotel includes dinner and breakfast. This hotel was one of them.
I had a fantastic dinner with famous "Hida" wagyu beef (飛騨牛)!
(Official website of "Suimei-kan"-only in Japanese →http://www.suimeikan.co.jp/index.php)
Bathroom in the guest room, usually people use the big public bath in the hotel
View from the hotel room
In middle of Oct. The leaves of the maple tree and ginko tree were not yet turned either red or yellow.
If you wish to enjoy the typical Autumn scenery of this region, you may need to try in Nov... though it can be different every year.
(See also the post in Dec. 26 2011 →Autumn in Japan, 日本の秋)
