Walk around in the “Gokayama Gassho Village”, which was registered as a World Heritage Site in 1995 along with the “Shirakawa-go Gassho Village”. The world heritage of Gokayama area, the gassho village is in two districts, “Ainokura” and “Suganuma”. Although the scale is smaller than Shirakawa-go, the scenery of the mountain village deep in the mountains impressive for me.
Ainokura Gassho Village: Arrive at 10 am on the tour bus, take a walk in the village after observing from the village observatory, enjoy and take pictures of the snowy mountain village scenery, and stay for 1 hour.Please note that the stop-by time is limited form 8:30 to 17:00 except during the light-up event.
Suganuma Gassho Village: Arrive at 11:00 am on the tour bus, walk east on the national highway for about 200 m, take a bird’s-eye view of the entire village from the observatory, then move to the Gassho village, take a picture, and stay for 1 hour. I couldn’t enter the facility (Like a museum in the Gassho house) because the staying time was short for both villages. The stop-by time is limited as in the Ainokura Gassho Village.
Shirakawa-go: At 6:30 in the morning, I had a quieter morning than last night of the light-up event, I went to Shiroyama Observatory with my camera and tripod by walk.
Shirakawa-go: A bird’s-eye view of Shirakawa-go, where is cloudy with snowing, from the observatory. A fantastic gassho village that is white and hazy due to the falling snow. Time goes by in a quiet mountain village landscape as opposed to being lit up event in last night.
Ainokura Gassho Village
Ainokura Gassho Village: On the flat land of about 500m x 250m above the Shogawa left bank plateau with mountains in the background, 20 Gassho-houses are left and mountain village life is carried out there. Classified as a medium-sized settlement. From the observatory, which is about 5 minutes by walk from the parking lot, I took a bird’s-eye view of the entire gassho village built on the mountain behind. The village is also designated as a “Traditional Buildings Preservation District” and the landscape is protected.
Ainokura Village: A part of the parking lot and village seen from the way to the observatory. It was about 2-3m of snow on that day.
Ainokura Village: A view of the Gassho Village from the observatory shooting spot. It can see the avalanche prevention forest behind the village
Ainokura Village: Behind the village, on the slope of the mountain.
Ainokura Village: A road that runs through the center of the village. In the village, there are 3 gassho-style tour facilities and 6 guest houses. Due to the registration as a World Heritage Site, there are many tourists from overseas.
Ainokura Village: The gassho-style structure is tied up with ropes, and metal nails are not used.
Ainokura Village: The snow cover was about 2-3m,However, the snow that falls on the gassho roof, which is slightly steeper than Shirakawa-go, seems to slip off naturally except in the midwinter.
Ainokura Village: A shrine in the village.
Ainokura Village: 1 hour of free time, a quick tour of the observatory and the village. I am looking forward to the next opportunity to visit each facility in the village. Take a tour bus to Suganuma Gassho Village.
Suganuma Gassho Village
Suganuma Village: Gokayama Ainokura Village goes up about 7km upstream from the Shogawa River, and a gassho village similar to Ainokura appears on the right bank. The number of existing gassho houses are 9, which are even smaller than that of Ainokura and is classified as a small village. Like the Ainokura village, it is registered as a World Heritage Site. Like Shirakawa-go and Aikura, it is designated as a “Traditional Buildings Preservation District” and the landscape is protected.
Suganuma Village: There is an elevator that goes down to the village at the “Observation Square Parking Lot” where the tour bus stops. This time, I walked east on National Highway 156 while looking down on the village and Shogawa river from the parking lot, and entered the village from the “Suganuma Village Mae” bus stop via the Suganuma Observatory. It is about 400m from the parking lot to the bus stop.
Suganuma Village: Shogawa river is connecting Shirakawa-go and Gokayama (Sugamuma and Ainokura). Shirakawa-go → (19Km) Suganuma Village → (11km) Ainokura Village.
Suganuma Village: 150m down from Suganuma Bus Terminal to the village entrance, 2-3m of snow as in Ainokura Village.
Suganuma Village: “Gokayama Folk Museum”, Gokayama Gassho is a “Irimoya-zukuri” with a canopy on the gable side, and there is an entrance on the gable side like this. Shirakawa-go Gassho’s “Gable-making” is different from the flat entrance (parallel to the ridge).
Suganuma Village: “Ensho no Yakata”, a project under the direct control of the Kaga Domain, At that time, the production of “salt nitre,” the raw material for gunpowder, was one of the main industries in Shirakawa-go and Gokayama.
Suganuma Village: Icicles are noticeable, is it because of the humid snow in this area?
Suganuma Village: An area where tourism and village life are fused.
Suganuma Village: The blue sky was visible near the end of the walk in the village.
Suganuma Village: Tourists are sparse, quiet and quiet.
Suganuma Village: Stunning icicles. The departure time of the tour bus is soon, and on the way back, take the elevator to the observation square parking lot.
