Behind the Mountains: Shirakawago

We had parted with Ken, who had gone to visit a friend in nearby Nagoya on the previous day. After having spent the night in an (unexpectedly) expensive inn, our driver woke up hungover. With one last vigorous push, he drove us to a valley behind the mountains, and left the car in a clearing by a brook where the water ran crystal blue, and fell asleep, leaving Dario and I on our own to explore the World Heritage Site of Shirakawago.

The villages of Shirakawago bear incredible visible historical heritage, from the structure of the tall thatch-roofed houses to the scattered agricultural fields squeezed even between said houses. Villagers here used to make their trade with the outside world by farming the base elements that were necessary in the creation of gunpowder and paper. In these lands were snowfall still comes thick and heavy through the colder months, people made a simple and honest living.

This picture by Dario.

Now that they're considered by UNESCO to be World Heritage, these villages draw a lot of their livelihood from tourism. Many of the farm houses have re-established themselves as inns, allowing visitors an imaginably great opportunity to live as one of the villagers and let the life of the countryside breathe through them in full. Dario had previously been through Shirakawago and done just that, barely half a year ago. In his own words, the place was worth returning to every season of the year. That aside, a lot of the farmhouses have also turned into museums. Once again, history buffs could really have a field day, here.

Shirakawago was the last of our sightseeing stops before we headed back to Tokyo, but I'll be back there, some day, I'm sure.