Ogimachi Village - Shirakawa-go, Gefu, Japan
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denben
N 36° 15.609 E 136° 54.460
53S E 671376 N 4014491
Ogimachi is the largest village and main attraction of Shirakawa-go. Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995, the village is home to several dozen well preserved gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old.
Waymark Code: WMZ9XZ
Location: Gifu, Japan
Date Posted: 10/05/2018
Views: 1
The Historic Villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama are one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The cultural property consists of three historic mountain villages, Ogimachi, Ainokura and Suganuma, over an area of 68 hectares (170 acres) in the remote Shogawa river valley, stretching across the border of Gifu and Toyama Prefectures in central Japan. Shirakawa-go is located in the village of Shirakawa in Gifu Prefecture. The Gokayama area is divided between the former villages of Kamitaira and Taira in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture.
The world heritage site consists of three historic mountain villages, Ogimachi, Ainokura and Suganuma, surrounded by the steep forested mountains of the Chubu Region within central Japan. In total, the area inscribed as a world heritage site for these three villages is 68 hectares (0.68 km2).
The valley is in a mountain region with considerable snowfall, and these villages are well known for their clusters of farmhouses, constructed in the architectural style known as gassho-zukuri, which are designed to easily shed snow from their roofs.
The Gassho-style house ("prayer-hands construction" style) is characterized by a steeply slanting thatched roof, resembling two hands joined in prayer. The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allows the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter.
The houses are large, with three to four storeys encompassed between the low eaves, and historically intended to house large extended families and a highly efficient space for a variety of industries. The densely forested mountains of the region still occupy 96% of all land in the area, and prior to the introduction of heavy earth-moving machinery, the narrow bands of flat lands running the length of the river valley limited the area available for agriculture and homestead development. The upper storeys of the gassho houses were usually set aside for sericulture, while the areas below the first (ground) floor were often used for the production of nitre, one of the raw materials needed for the production of gunpowder.
The Gassho-style house is architecturally one of the most important and rare types of farmhouse in Japan. The clustering of so many surviving examples has given the World Heritage Site its justification for inscription (i.e. formal recognition). This confident style of house construction is unique within Japan, and nowhere else within the country is roof space typically utilised, except for passive storage, and not in a two, three or four storey manner, as is seen here.
Ogimachi, Shirakawa-go's largest village and main attraction, makes a good day trip from Takayama, or a stop on the bus journey between Takayama and Kanazawa. The best way to experience the town, however, is to stay overnight at one of the farmhouses, many of which now serve as minshuku.
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