The Shirakawa-go (白川郷, Shirakawagō) or 白川郷・五箇山の合掌造り集落
located in Ogimachi, Shirakawa, Ono District, Gifu Prefecture of Japan. The regions line is around the Shogawa River Valley in the remote mountains that span from Gifu to Toyama Prefectures. Shirakawa is one of the UNESCO world heritage site in 1995 with the famous of traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses which are more than 250 years old and they still keep their lifestyle and model as old culture. Some of them are been renovate but they still keep the original model,too.
Shirakawago History
The oldest traces of human life in Shirakawa-go are artifacts dating back to between 7000 B.C. and 2300 B.C. Multiple articles of pottery have been excavated, painting a picture of an independent Hida interacting with the surrounding areas. Also excavated are a mirror dating from around 600 A.D., documents from 700 A.D. have been found that appear to mention Shirakawa-go, although it is not certain.
The name “Shirakawa-go” first appears clearly in history in around 1176. The name is thought to have been in wide use at this time as it appeared written in the diary of an aristocrat living in Kyoto. Following this, the name has made a large number of appearances throughout the history of Japan.
The distinctive large roofed gassho style houses, named in Japanese for their resemblance to hands joined in prayer, are a charachteristic feature of Shirakawa-go today. Early prototypes were built from around 1700, as silk and gunpowder production in the village flourished during the Edo era. The design evolved into the form currently seen around the village in around 1800. source by shirakawa-go.org
What Are Gassho Style Houses?
The Gassho Style Houses of Shirakawa-go – Gassho style houses are residences built from wooden beams that support their charachteric, steeply sloped, thatched roofs, that meet at a high peak, and are said to resemble hands meeting in prayer. They are a large form of the architectural style of thatched gabled roofs known as “sasu” structure.
While similar buildings are seen in other provinces, in Shirakawa-go this style of building known as “gabled gassho style”, with its triangular shaped eaves resembling an open book propped up on its covers, is ideally adapted to the natural conditions in Shirakawa-go, charachterized by great weights of snow deposited during heavy snowfalls. Addtionaly, the structures face to the north and south, taking Shirakawa-go’s predominent wind direction into account and minimizing wind resistance, while controlling the amount of sunlight hitting the roof, to provide cool summers and warmer winters.
One of the ways in which gassho style houses differ from other traditional Japanese houses is that the attics are employed as work spaces. From the Edo to the early-Showa era, sericulture (silk production) was the foundation industry supporting the people of the village. The large attick spaces under the eaves were usually divided into 2 to 4 layers and put to effective use in the rearing of silkworm.
Another charachteristic feature is the design of the sasu-kozo style thatched, gabled, roofs. The roofs of Japan’s tradition thatched roofed house often employ a gambrel or hipped roof design (supported an internal wooden frame), but the gassho style design features gabled roofs with long, individual, beams defining and supporting roofline. This creates a large spce through which light and the breeze can travel, producing ideal environment for the breeding of sillk-worms. You can feel the beauty of gassho style in the function of life guiding the form of the living space. source by shirakawa-go.org
How to get there:
- By Bus: from Nagoya use direct buses between Nagoya (Meitetsu Bus Center next to Nagoya Station). The counter is around second floor of the building for exchange and buy ticket.
