Shirakawa-go Gassho-Zukuri Minka-en — Attraction in Shirakawa

We visited from Kanazawa for the day. We took the tour bus(can’t remember the name of the company) from Kanazawa train station. Idk if we were lucky but we booked our tickets the day before. Not many spots were open but we were able to find convenient times. The bus ride was almost 1.5h long but it went by fast. We spent a little over 5h at Shirakawago which was the perfect time for us as it allowed us to go to the view point, explore the entire village, visit the museum, eat at the food stalls and buy some souvenirs. I highly recommend checking out the museum. Not much information is available in English but it’s much better than the houses in the village imo. If you visit the museum you don’t need to visit the houses in the village as they are pretty much the same. We visited the Wanda house and it felt pretty underwhelming after visiting the museum. We visited the village on a Wednesday and a lot of shops and restaurants were closed. Not sure if it was a coincidence or if things are closed on Wednesday. We were able to try a few different things at the food stalls and everything was pretty good, esp the beef nigiri. A lot of restaurants don’t take cc so have some cash with you. Things were a little more expensive than Kanazawa but this is expected for remote places. Overall it was a very unique experience. I just wish they had more...

We entered everything that needed to be entered, removed our shoes when required, and even watched the video—just to get a sense of what it felt like to live in this village many years ago. It took us less than an hour to complete, even while taking our time.

In case you missed it: Shirakawa Village is a mountain village with small villages scattered between mountains at altitudes of 1,000 to 2,000 metres and narrow valleys.

More than half of the gassho-zukuri houses in Shirakawa Village have been lost over the past 20 years due to dam construction that began in the 1950s. And so,the Museum preserves and exhibits the gassho-zukuri houses of the village of Hida-Kazura (now Shirakawa Village, Gifu Prefecture), which became uninhabited in 1967 when all the villagers left the village to keep the memories of the past alive.

FYI: You can pay with a card. If you don’t want to get your nice shoes dirty because of the melting snow (wet paths), you can rent rain boots right at the ticket office. There’s also a vending machine with both cold...

Shirakawago's open-air museum, which lets you walk around old houses and buildings preserved as they were found in the villages of the region.

This museum shows a lot about the history and culture of the region in a very natural way, by allowing you to walk freely in and around most exhibitions of the park. Written explanations are also provided both in Japanese and English.

You are free to wander about freely or follow the designated path which will guide you to everything that this museum has to offer. When I visited, it wasn't crowded but I felt like the museum was arranged in such a way that you can naturally take things at your own pace and avoid the other groups if you wish to. It's also definitely a very photogenic place. Each and every building or area has its own charm. Would definitely recommend to stop by and bask in the peace and history that this museum wants...