SHIRAKAWA-GO TOUR: HOW TO GET TO RURAL JAPAN

Shirakawa-gō was love at first sight, before being seen. I explain myself: when we started to inform ourselves about Japan, in New Zealand, I read something about a traditional village lost by the Japanese Alps and I had it clear ... we had to go. As we arrived you already know, what we have not yet told you is how our blind date turned out, considering that many times, when you idealize a place, reality can disappoint you. Fortunately it was not the case: Shirakawa-gō loved it! Just be prepared to share space with a few more tourists!

Shirakawa-gō is famous for its typical wooden houses (gasshō-zukuri), with its peculiar thatched roofs so inclined. The reason for this form of construction is simple: to prevent the large amount of snow that falls in the Hida region from accumulating on the roof and eventually destroying the houses.

Functionality apart, the thatched roof gives it a super special air, we found them really very very beautiful.

To get to the heart of the historical center of Shirakawa-gō (Ogimachi) you have to go through a suspension bridge that causes vertigo to more than one (our driver told us that once a man stayed on the bus because he could not overcome the fear of emptiness! Even if you do not worry ... it is not so much! More than the height we were overwhelmed by the number of tourists that there were (apparently we weren't the only ones interested in visiting the town :-p)

The rough waters of the Shogawa River it will seem to you to be in an enchanted world: the traditional houses they alternate with rice paddies, temples, craft shops and with improvised snow caves ... everything is so unreal that for a moment we doubted being awake!

The first thing we did was go up to shiroyama viewpoint (a little hill next to the center) to be able to admire that show in all its splendor. We were very lucky with the weather: it was the only sunny day of the week and we could enjoy a Shirakawa-gō snowy and sunny. From above, the perspective is amazing: hundreds of pointy little houses seem to leave the ground like mushrooms between bright rice paddies and a layer of snow. Yes, yes, yes: it is certainly worth getting here!

After a photo shoot that not even a professional paparazzi ... we went down to explore every corner of the town, but not before enjoying the snow a little and creating the saddest and ugliest snowman ever, if we are more than sun!

Once down we could not resist the temptation and we entered one of the most famous houses: the Kanda-ke. Among the houses that can be visited they say that it is the best preserved (and also in the entrance price all the tea you want to drink haha ​​is included, so there were no doubts!).

As we entered we were welcomed by a bonfire and a cauldron where they heat the water for tea, so the first cup of warm tea, under the gaze of Emperor Akihito himself and Empress Michiko who were hanging on the walls. Not them, their photos.

After the break we decided explore the house, which proved to be larger than expected (and its stairs steeper than it seemed ... although we managed not to fall!).

They were traditionally raisedsilkworms on the top floor, today there is no trace of them although it is worth climbing to the top to observe the panorama from its windows.

After the visit nothing better than ending the day with a ice cream rich rich (we have already told you that the Japs are obsessed with ice cream ?!) or roam the souvenir stands.

They say that Shirakawa-gō is beautiful in every season: in winter because it is covered with snow, in spring because it is full of flowers, in summer because it is green and in autumn because it is dyed yellow, brown and orange ... will we have to go back?