Shirikawago – Japanese Alps
Thanks for joining us today, I’m taking you up into the Japanese alpine country to this unique Unesco World Heritage site called Shirikawago and adjoining Gokoyama. These small villages up in the mountain areas of the Gifu and Toyama prefectures contain the historic architectural style of grass homes called Gasshō-zukuri or ” Prayer hands” which resemble two hands raised up to the heavens in prayer. The homes are uniquely identified with their thick straw-thatched roofs and are solidly built to withstand the alpine and cold winter conditions in the area. The steep slope and pitch of the roof lines are created to withstand the harsh winters and deep snows that linger in the region for long periods. The many leveled homes are built for storage, housing and creating small industries like silk production up in their attics. The beautiful wood craftsmanship and details of the interiors of these homes are very unique to the region and mark an almost forgotten traditional lifestyle and way of living in this area of Japan.
Fall annual colors
Detail to the side of a Gassho Zukuri home
Fall colors with elaborate flower beds blooming everywhere
- Taking care of the flower beds
Gate details at the main community center
During the timeframe that I was visiting, fall was quickly approaching and fall bearing crops like apples and persimmons where bursting with fruit, it is a beautiful and quiet time to really enjoy the area and take a lot of walks through the countryside and into the hills around Shirikawa. Taking nice long walks around the villages and up into the hills is one of the best ways to enjoy visiting the area and seeing the countryside from different vista points.
- Persimmons ready for the taking
A storage structure
There are a few gassho zukuri in the village that have also been converted into inns for guests to stay and experience living and eating traditional foods in these beautiful homes. It’s a great experience to stay in the area overnight when all the tours have left and you can enjoy the quiet and solitude to yourself along with the rest of the villagers. If you do get to visit the area, make sure that you book an overnight stay with board, it will be a wonderful experience to appreciate the craftsmanship, warmth and lifestyle of these types of accomations and the food that is typically prepared in the area.
Fall time at Shirikawago
I hope that you enjoyed visiting this beautiful and quiet side of the Japanese alpine country, I’ll be taking you on a hike on my next post and we will also visit the inside of the the larger Gassho zukuri homes, so stay tuned for this. Meanwhile, please do visit some of these other bloggers posting about places around the world today for Travel Photo Mondays, click on any of the links below to visit their websites.
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The tall A-shape of these buildings reminds me of Switzerland — which I suppose makes some sense, given the alpine connection. These are great photos!
Beautiful photos–and it looks so different from my mental image of Japan (which admittedly I have never visited).
love those buildings. Looks nice.
I do love your photography and you have seen so many wondrous parts of the world. These were breath taking! Any tips on how to photograph a night?
look for a light source out close by and try to avoid your flash, keep your aperture low and ISO at a level that will work
I can see from your photos that we need a return visit to Japan. Your beautiful photos make that abundantly clear.
Yes Japan is amazing, so many more places for me to visit, it’s amazing!
I had no idea that Japan had an Alpine district. Very beautiful. I was surprised when you wrote that it was nearing fall, I would have guessed mid-summer.
Thank you for the tour of the Japanese Alps, how lovely!
Certainly different from the common Japanese roof style and reminiscent of the Swiss Alps – also with the flowers. Love your captures here!
Wow, your photos are stunning. This looks like an amazing place. I pinned several of them. I didn’t even know there were Japanese Alps. Another place to add to my bucket list.
what a beautiful place the flowerbeds…
One of my favorite places in Japan. Beautiful photos
I especially love the last photo!
I love the thatched roofs. I saw them in Northern Honshu previously. Never made it here, but wish I had, so beautiful!
Hi Noel,
Stunning photos of the Japanese Alps, which I have never really seen before! So glad that your images were my introduction to this most fertile land, overflowing with such dainty and delightful flower beds! What colour and pattern; picture perfect! I was intrigued to discover the meaning behind the architectural details of the structures, built to emulate the hands of prayer, to the skies above! Thank you for such an informative and beautifully illustrated post and of course, for hosting such an interesting meme!
Poppy