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Winter Fantasy @ Shiragawa 2010

From Takayama, it's ideal to travel to this beautiful nearby village, Shirakawa, which is approximately 1.5 hours away by bus.
 
Different ways to get to Shirakawa
 
Shirakawa village is located in the northwestern part of Gifu Prefecture and is next to Gokayama village in Toyama prefecture. Shirakawa is widely known as one of the most scenic places in Japan. It is surrounded by pine tree covered mountain and is located along the picturesque Shokawa river. Besides, the beautiful scenery, the many traditional Gasso Style houses (which have been designated as World Heritage) are the center of attraction. Most of these houses were built 200-300 years ago and remains solid as of today. The residents of Shirakawa still live in the village.
 
The scene of 114 houses with thatched roofs in the Gassho-style, best viewed from the observation platform, commands a wonderful panorama of this village. Unfortunately due to heavy snow, we were not able to get to the platform.  
 
View from the observatory
 
Upon arriving at Shirakawa, the scenery before me stood still like a beautiful painting. It felt so surreal and the snow capped roof-top added some christmasy feel to the entire village. There were many places to explore in this village and hence a half day trip would be great.
 
The 'Outdoor Museum Gassho Folk Museum' is an open-air museum with many Gassho styles houses transferred from Kazura area, Shirakawa village. At this museum, you can visit some of the houses to see how the people used to live in the village long time ago.
 
Scenery is like a painting before us















Frozen river
















 
 
There were also a number of the houses converted museums opened to tourist during the summer or autumn season. Unfortunately, due to heavy snowfall, these houses were closed.
 
An overnight stay at the village would be lovely because they have some of the most amazing minshuku (i.e. the gassho style houses) that offered very unique and cosy accommodation for the tourists. I've also heard that the Japanese dinner prepared by the minshuku were fantastic. However, these minshuku were always fully booked and hence early booking is highly recommended.  I hope that I'll be able to stay in one of these minshuku at Shirakawa during my next visit.
 

 
Nonetheless, before I leave this village, I have the opportunity to taste the best beef curry rice at one of the village restaurants. I swear that was the best curry rice I ever had in my life. Every mouthful of the curry rice and pieces of hida-beef is so heartwarming. I believed the chef must have prepared the curry with sincerity.
 



 
 
 
 
 
 




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