
Shirakawago: Japanese Countryside Fairytale
In the remote mountains that range from Gifu to Toyama Prefectures, the Shirakawa-go (almost, Shirakawagō) and neighboring Gokayama (almost) areas line the Shogawa River Valley. They are renowned for their traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old, and were declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Gassho-zukuri means “constructed…