Historic Villages of Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama

Ogimachi in Shirakawa-gō and Ainokura and Suganuma in Gokayama are mountain villages along the Shō River in Gifu and Toyama prefectures, inhabited since the 11th century. Their gasshō-style houses have steep thatched roofs framed with logs set in a triangle like hands joined in prayer, at pitches of 45 to 60 degrees. The shape sheds the heavy winter snow.

The villagers grew mulberry and raised silkworms, a trade that goes back to the 16th century, became established in the late 17th century and lasted until the 1970s. The roof spaces held the silkworm racks, and the area under the ground floor was used to make nitre for gunpowder. Roofs were rethatched every 30 to 40 years, with preparations starting at least three years ahead and 200 to 300 people working a day to finish one side in about two days.

Today 59 gasshō houses stand in Ogimachi, 23 in Ainokura and 9 in Suganuma; most of those in Ogimachi were built between the late Edo and late Meiji periods, and the last one in Suganuma was built in 1926. Ogimachi was designated a preservation district for groups of historic buildings in 1976, and the three villages were inscribed as a World Heritage site in 1995.