Day 12: Shirakawa-go and Ainu Village

I have been putting off writing up Day 12… Simply because it will be last of the series and writing them up has been an excellent way of re-experiencing the trip. But here we go…

The day started off early. We were checking out before our 8.30am bus and heading to Gifu city in the early evening.

Today, we visit the historic Shirakwa-go and Ainu villages. By the time we looked in November last year, local highway bus tickets were already sold out. We settled for the jump on bus tour operated by the same local bus company, Nohi. It was definitely pricier but comes with a pre-set itinerary and a Japanese guide.

Our bus was departing at 8.30am but we got to the bus terminal (10 minute walk away) next to the Takayama station early to deposit our remaining luggage in the bag lockers.

Boarding was smooth, the guide took note of whether passengers were planning to stay in Takayama after as they had to ensure we weren’t boarding a bus that might return too late for our eventual departure.

As mentioned prior, the day tour has a Japanese tour guide attached. We got lucky however, our lovely tour guide also spoke English and she was very determined to run the trip bilingually. How lovely! She explained that due to recent traffic by other tour buses and cars, the itinerary for the day would be changing so that we would visit Shirakawa-go first before Ainu Village. No complains if we can avoid all the crowds! She spent most of the 1 hour bus journey explaining the history of the historic village as well as suggest some things we should focus on while we are there. It does pay to have a local guide.

Arriving at Shirakawa-go, our collective breaths were taken away. It is that, beautiful. A historic village which still see local occupants staying in many of the gassho-style houses. Since it received UNESCO World Heritage recognition, it has grown into a vibrant tourist spot.

I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves (mostly)…

Snow covered Gassho-houses are definitely a vibe. Our guide told us on the bus that to replace a gassho-house roof, it would require special hay that is grown only around Mount Fuji; it costs upwards of 20,000,000yen (around $210,000 AUD) to do so. I certainly hope some of the increased visibility and tourism would go back into the local community.

Following the path our guide had suggested earlier, we opted to head straight to the lookout point. It is a 20 to 35 minute walk up a steep trail. The views however, are rewarding and very well worth it. There is a shuttle bus that runs every 15 minutes but we did not see this today.

Phew. By the time we ascended to the lookout point, the crowds were starting to gather. Many tourists visit from Kanazawa, Nagoya and other major cities in the neighbouring prefectures for a day trip.

After heading back down, we visited the Tanaka House, one of a few houses that are open for display but the only one our guide strongly recommended as we are able to access all four storeys of this house. The entry costs 400yen ($5 AUD).

It was simply incredible to see it preserved. An open fire sits on most, if not all, of these gassho-houses. The ground floor is made of a composite of clay and other natural sediment that would give it its uneven quality but certainly fireproof and insulation.

The stairs were all very narrow and the higher floors had very low ceilings. From the mezzanine, many openings were cut so that the occupants can keep an eye on the fire even from above ground level.

Most of the production of goods took place on the upper floors, with the ground floor reserved for residence. Incredibly, we learnt that much of the structure is reinforced up the top in a special way that requires minimal to no joining using screws.

Astounded but hungry, we left Tanaka House to search for some of the famed Hida Beef Croquette on the main tourist street.

Along the way, we saw many of the locals shovelling snow in their driveways and even a young child assisting and subsequently playing on a sled.

Sitting on the Main Street, we took a minute to rest our legs and enjoyed our delicious beef-korokke.

For the last 30 minutes of our time here, before we were due to board the bus, we headed towards the Shirakawa-go Heritage Museum to get away from the crowds (it also allegedly has the cleanest toilets in the area). The heritage museum is pretty much like Hida Folk Village, a collection of houses that have been relocated there for display.

Here, we found a little rest gassho-house that serves hot warabi mochi in red bean soup along with some tea. A perfect way to rest in this cold weather, eating and sitting around the open fire. Each bowl was 300yen ($3.50AUD) with a 100yen discount because we travelled here on the sightseeing bus.

Stopping by the toilets, we headed back to the bus meeting point. The tour guide was very thankful that all of us arrived on time which meant the day’s itinerary could go ahead.

As our bus pulled out of the parking lot, we saw the queue that the guide had mentioned earlier. Tour buses and cars were waiting on the opposite side of the road to enter in queue that spanned almost 2 kilometres. Boy am I glad we got here early and got out without any fuss.

From Shirakawa-go, it would take another 40 minute bus ride to reach Ainu Village. Comparatively, Ainu village is much smaller and less touristy. It only has about twenty gassho houses and a population in the hundreds. Interestingly, the architecture is subtly different. Gassho-houses in Shirakawago have their entrances on the side while Ainu houses have their entrances from the front.

We were pretty tired by this point and after walking around the village, opted to head back to the bus to rest.

From Ainu Village, it was a 90 minute ride back to Takayama Nohi Bus Terminal which meant… napping time!

Arriving back at the terminal at 4.30pm, we had a couple of hours before we were due for the Hida train bound for Gifu.

Not wanting to miss out on trying Maruaki Hida Beef Yakiniku, we went back to see if there was still a ridiculous queue…

Given that most of the tourists had left Takayama, were able to get in within 15 minutes! Maruaki would end up being the cheapest of the yakinikus we had but had the best cuts and flavour. Winning!

If you’ve read up to this point… thank you! From here on in our trip, we basically stayed in Gifu for a couple of nights before returning to Tokyo on the Tokaido Shinkansen.

We opted not to take much more photos for the rest of trip, instead choosing to focus on shopping and catching up with friends. Japan is wonderful to visit as always and left feeling like there is much more to see. A trip to the Kyushu region is on the cards next…!

Until the next trip, we bid you a fond farewell!