Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama
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| Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama* | |
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| UNESCO World Heritage Site | |
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| State Party |  Japan |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iv, v |
| Reference | 734 |
| Region† | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1995 (19th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO. |
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The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama are one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The site is located in the Shogawa river valley stretching across the border of Gifu and Toyama Prefectures in northern Japan. Shirakawa-gō (白川郷, "White River Old-District") is located in the village of Shirakawa in Gifu Prefecture. The Gokayama (五箇山, "Five Mountains") area is divided between the former villages of Kamitaira and Taira in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture.
These villages are well known for their houses constructed in architectural style known as gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り). The Gassho-zukuri, "prayer-hands construction" style is characterized by a thatched and steeply slanting roof resembling two hands joined in prayer. The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allow the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter.
The houses are large, with three to four stories encompassed between the low eaves, and intended, historically, to house large extended families and an highly-efficient space for a variety of industries. The densely-forested mountains of the region still occupy 96% of all land in the area, and prior to the introduction of heavy earth-moving machinery, the narrow bands of flat lands running the length of the river valley limited the area available for agriculture and homestead development. The upper stories of the gassho houses were usually set aside for sericulture, while the areas below the first floor were often used for the production of nitre, one of the raw materials needed for the production of gunpowder.
[edit] Scenes
 Gokayama(winter) |
 Gokayama(winter) |
 Old Village of Shirakawa-gō |
 Shirakawa-gō(winter) |
 Shirakawa-gō(winter) |
 Shirakawa-gō(autumn) |
 Shirakawa-gō(autumn)(和田家) |
 Shirakawa-gō(autumn)(明善寺) |
 Fireplace of Shirakawa-gō |
 Fireplace of Shirakawa-gō(明善寺) |
 Ogimachi Village, Shirakawa-gō(spring) |
 Gassho-zukuri farmhouse, Shirakawa-gō(spring) |
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- UNESCO entry on Shirakawa-go and Gokayama
- Gokayama (Ainokura) photo gallery
- Stay overnight in a Gassho-Zukuri in Shirakawago
- Gassho-Zukuri villages
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