JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

22.10.18

JAPAN AUTUMN TRIP 2017: November Snow at Shirakawa-Go

It was one fine Sunday morning when I went to Shirakawa-Go from Takayama. I booked a half-day tour from J-Hoppers guesthouse, the hostel where I stayed in Takayama. You can book this tour also even if you don't stay at the place, but it's cheaper if you stay there. Actually, I didn't expect to witness any snow in Shirakawa-Go since it was still November, but it did snow!

Apparently, my friend went to Shirakawa-Go just the day before I went there. He told me it was snowing hard that day. He told me that it was quite hard to reach the observation deck since to road was slippery because of the snow.

The snow did not fall the day after - the day I went to Shirakawa-Go, but the snow leftover was still there. Thank God! I could finally experienced snow all around me. And the plus point of taking this tour was, it stopped right at the observation deck so I didn't have to walk there.

The view from the observation deck was magnificent. I marvelled upon the view of the village, surrounded by mountains, and snow. It was so beautiful.

From the observation deck, the bus headed to the village. It stopped on the parking lot and I had to walk to the village by crossing the bridge.

Even the view from the bridge awed me, thought it was just river with rocks and snow covering it. So yeah, snow is something huge for someone who lives in a tropical country like me. I consider myself blessed to experience this, since my friend came here the next month, somewhere in mid December, but there was no snow track at all at this place. So, check the weather forecast before you come here on November or December and manage your expectation.

The main attraction of this village are the gassho-zukuri farmhouses. Gassho means 'hands in prayer' which the steep tatched roof resembles. Some of these houses are more than 250 years old.

A few of these houses are open for public, with admission fee of course. I visited the Kanda's house and paid JPY 300 for the entrance fee.

Take a look on the interior of this house. Upon entering the house, you could spot traditional heater in the center.

First floor is for daily activities, this floor is where the living room and other rooms are.

Meanwhile the second floor is where they placed the farming tools.

More storage space in the attic.

This was the view from the attic. Beautiful wasn't it?

After visiting Kanda's house, I strolled around the village. Apparently not all of the houses in the village use gassho roof. Some are more modern, but still having that country-side feel. The village wasn't all white, but it was still charming.