Roadside Station Shirakawa-Go — Local services in Shirakawa

This is the perfect first stop before entering the historic village. It’s a convenient and welcoming place to take a short break, with clean restrooms, ample parking, and a great selection of local souvenirs and snacks. You’ll find everything from regional sweets and handmade crafts to a variety of drinks—including several types of locally produced apple juice and other natural juices that are refreshing and delicious.

The shop has a cozy, friendly atmosphere and is a great spot to pick up a few gifts or try some regional specialties before heading into the main village. It’s also a helpful place to grab a quick bite or something to drink, especially if you’re traveling by car or tour bus.

Definitely worth...

Would have been a 5* experience staying in one of Ryokan in Shirakawago provided a) powdery snow and b) better dinner spread. Over tourism spot with many day trip buses coming in after 9am. So if you stay overnight, make sure you stroll around and up the hill to take good shot of pictures before the place is getting too crowded. Not much choice for lunch/dinner, considering small village. Hot spring bath is available in the village, which add to overall experience. Come in late Jan at least if you want to catch full snow scenery. Last visit (Dec2019), winter is kinda coming late. Otherwise it would have been...

We were looking for shirakago parking lots and stumbled on this station. It houses the information area which was unmanned, a chamber office and some food and retail outlets and a toilet.

The actual entrance is about 10 minutes drive away. We didn't find any particularly useful information or instruction at the tourist info centre here. We were using our car's default local GPS so its better to rely on Google map.

There were a number of Japanese who encountered...