Blogs from Shirakawa-go, Gifu, Japan, Asia

Sleeping on the floor was not as difficult as I thought it was going to be. Our problem was that at 5.30 am the sun was streaming through the blinds and we were awake! Breakfast for us was served at 8 am in the Banquet Hall. It was off with our shoes as we padded across the tatami mats to our waiting table. Breakfast was a salad, fruit and a couple of croissants. This was a continental breakfast. The coffee was incredibly weak! Thankfully Don had made me a coffee in the room before we came down or I wouldn’t have been able to function! Then we went down to reception to get the shuttle bus to the bus station where we had tickets for the one hour drive to Shirakawa-go. Shirakawa-go is a world heritage ... read more

Wednesday, 20th September 2017 I hopped on to the Toyama Chitetsu Bus (advanced booking recommended) which would bring me to the Shirakawa-Go village from JR Toyama Station.The short 1-hour commute meant that I did not have to spend a lot of time travelling between places since I am not really a "bus" and "road" traveller. The Shirakawa-Go village is not a very big place as I soon found out after bussing my way to the viewing point for an overview of the place. In winter, the steep roofs would be covered with snow and that would certainly present a very different sight. Even though this is a UNESCO Heritage Site, I liked that the authorities have not overly exploited the site for tourist dollars. Bus connections to Toyama is still rather infrequent these days with about ... read more

Shirakawa-go is a region in the mountains between Takayama and Kanazawa. Shirakawa-go, and neighbouring Gokayama are UNESCO world heritage sites which are famous for their traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses. The farm houses have very steeply peaked thatched roofs which are said to resemble the hands of monks pressed together in prayer. In winter they can get up to two meters of snow in the region, hence the steeply peaked roofs. We reached Shirakawa-go by bus which took about an hour from Takayama. The trip was spent mostly in tunnels so we didn’t get to see much scenery at all! We arrived at about 11am on a Saturday of a long weekend (the following Monday was a public holiday for ‘respect for the aged’ day). We had booked a room in one of the gassho-zukuri houses which had ... read more

(Blogged on 12 December 2010, posted on 15 December 2010 - Dates have adjusted) We woke up bright and early today to visit the Miyagawa morning market before catching the first bus into Shirakawa Go. Shirakawa Go comprised of traditional Japanese houses and they are authentic. If you have enough time, then head into Shirkawa Go instead of Hida no Sato as the latter was reconstructed for tourists. After viewing the in Shirakawa Go, we were surprised to discover that we have enough time to head back into Takayama to visit the Shishi Kaikan before they closed and to have a short stroll into the Shrioyama Koen. Miyagawa Morning Market Because we were afraid of missing the bus into Shirakawa Go (catch a bus from the terminal beside Takayama train station – apparently the only way ... read more