Shirakawa-go. Designated a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995 it’s a peek into the Japanese countryside

Wanting to see some of the far off truly Japanese sights, we were recommended to see Shirakawa-go - a charming village located an hour by bus from Takayama (which in itself is a non-Indian tourist destination!). Japan has its ryokans, its famous walking trail which I can no longer do due to the uphill paths and then there are places like the glacier wall up north, the bridges and lakes which to me were like any other. So, choose some where you can see Japanese culture and history. That’s how we landed up at Shirakawa Go and Koyasan (see separate blog).  

Ogimachi is the main village / transport centre of the Shirakawa-go region, where the bus lines  from Takayama, Nagoya, Kanazawa, Toyama and Takaoka meet. The buses use the new Shirakawago Bus Terminal at the entrance to the village. Ogimachi is small and can be easily explored on foot.

From Takayama we took a coach to Shirakawa at 9.35 am. Booked online from Mumbai so we had excellent front seats. Bookings for coaches open a month before travel date. After a very pleasant journey through green forested mountainsides, and going through atleast ten long tunnels, we arrived at Ogimachi village bus station at 10.25 am. It was teeming with Japanese and European tourists. Ploughing through the crowd, I went to the tourist office whilst my family took our bags to the left luggage where we kept all the suitcases until our 3.10 pm departure which would leave us at Kanazawa by 4.35 pm. This meant that we arrived after the mandatory 3.00 pm check in time and did not have to wait in hotel receptions! It was here that we saw the famous sign telling us to take our garbage back with us. Unbelievable but true. There are no garbage bins in the town except one in each of the two toilets of the bus station. 

From the English speaking tourist official I got a map of the town. After a few minutes, I asked about guided tours and when I said that we were 6 pax, he immediately asked me to wait and got my tour reservation request sent from Mumbai – I had forgotten all about the form I had filled in. This was good news as we were our own group and as departure was at 1.00pm., we had time to go to the observatory and have a quick lunch. 

This town is famous for their traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old. These thatched huts are actually normal huts but the Japanese have created a tourist destination out of this village by promoting an interesting concept :         “Gassho-zukuri means "constructed like hands in prayer", as the farmhouses' steep thatched roofs resemble the hands of Buddhist monks pressed together in prayer”. 

The architectural style was developed over many generations. Due to the steepness of the roof it can withstand heavy snowfalls during winter – upto 5.5 metres ! The roofs, made without nails, provided a large attic space used for cultivating silkworms. 

Leaving the bus station, the ideal way to the Shiroyama view point or Observatory bus stop is to cross the road right across the bus station. No; you take a long detour right along the perimeter of the bus station and then cross the road - you have to follow the yellow lines !! 

The shuttle bus takes around 12 pax and leaves promptly. Its a winding road along which no cars are allowed. From the top, you get a beautiful view of the village below. There is a walking trail which 4 of the family decided to take back to the tourist office. It turned out to be a real adventure as the trail was steep and very slippery. We took the bus back to return by 11.50 for a quick bite. 

The restaurant was Japanese style seating and there was no way that I could sit down. The others ordered their vegetarian lunch, I was not being given a chair to sit with them as it would “upset other guests” nor would they allow me to sit on a table by myself ! So, I sat on the platform with my legs hanging down and after a while went and got some snack from a shop. This was another example of Japanese rigidity in not being able to adjust to customer requests. 

We met Mr Ryu the tourist official who was our guide. An expert at his job. Passionate. He told us that there are 114 Gasso houses of which 59 are residential. There are two houses who permit guests to tour inside so you see the living accommodation, the equipment used for farming and the silkworm production which the families undertake in winter. They stop visitors by 5.00 pm so the house reverts to a living residence for the family !!  the main income is from silkworm production and potassium nitrate – yes, you read it right. 

The main activity in summer is rice planting and the whole area is full of rice fields. The canals have fish. 

Mr Ryu said that the roofs are changed every 10 - 15 years, the Govt pays 70-80% if owner has other income and 90% if house is for residential use only. The thatch thickness is about 2 feet. 

Ryusan showed us the shrine and nearby we saw the fire monitors. We did not understand how this triangular wooden small structure would put out fires. Then we saw the photograph...see below. Totally ingenious how under pressure, water is sprayed by these fire monitors across a wide area thereby stopping fire as well as preventing a new area catching fire. Brilliant idea. 

There are two temples. The East temple is gasso style. Ryusan explained something  very interesting. Japan has Shinto and Buddhism as its main religions. Every Japanese house will have a temple and a shrine --- For happy events, you go to the shrine. For sad events, you visit the temple.

Ryusan had taken us around the whole town. It was a long circuitous route and we had seen all the main landmarks. A very patient man who answered all our queries. Thank you, Ryusan for the whole experience. It was fascinating how the locals had adapted to the harsh winters and eked out a living growing rice and producing silk.

 

 

 

By 2.00 pm, we reached Nagase House. A large four storey building. The Nagase family were doctors for the Maeda lords in Ishikawa Prefecture before relocating to Ogimachi. Their farmhouse turned museum exhibits some medical tools and gifts from the Maeda family. The upper floors display many tools for farming and raising silkworms. 

I was by now tired of removing my shoes everywhere – shrines, restaurants etc so I stayed put outside and the family went in. this was another lesson – do not take shoes with laces to Japan – you will get fed up of taking these shoes off. 

We went back to the bus terminus, collected our bags and got into the queue for our journey to Kanazawa – it had been an interesting excursion to Shirakawa go.

 

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