Takayama and Shirakawa-go

Takayama and Shirakawa-go lie in the Hida region, in the northern mountains of Gifu Prefecture, between the Japanese Alps and the Sea of Japan. The mountains’ isolation preserved a way of life and architecture that made both places famous: the merchant and carpenter town of Takayama and the thatched-roof villages of Shirakawa-go.

During the Edo period Takayama was under the shogunate’s direct control, which maintained a government office there, the Takayama Jinya. The old town, Sanmachi, still has streets of dark wooden merchant houses, sake breweries and shops. Twice a year, in spring and autumn, the Takayama Festival parades carved floats through the streets; the festival’s floats are listed by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. The city is also known for Hida beef and for Hida carpenters, famed since antiquity.

About 50 km to the northwest, the village of Shirakawa in the Shō River valley contains the village of Ogimachi, with dozens of gassho-zukuri houses—very steep thatched roofs built to withstand heavy snow. Together with the villages of Ainokura and Suganuma in the neighboring Gokayama area of Toyama, they form a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Many houses are still lived in, and some accept guests.

Both are on the bus route between Takayama and Kanazawa, and many travelers go between the two cities with a stop in Shirakawa-go. North of Takayama, the town of Hida Furukawa has canals with carp and white storehouse-style houses and makes for a half-day stroll.

This destination brings together 2 cities: Takayama, Shirakawa.