Gokayama

The area is highly rated because many gassho-style houses (traditional Japanese style architecture using steep tatched roofs) built 350 to 100 years ago still remain in good condition, and the landscape of the entire village has been preserved as it was in the past.

Many of the houses are still in use today as accommodations, restaurants, and museums.

Gassho-zukuri is an architectural style unique to this area, which is one of the snowiest regions in the world.

Specifically, no nails or other metal objects are used to hold the roof in place. Instead, logs are assembled with ropes made from plants and trees and wooden wedges; the thatched roof has a steep slope of about 60 degrees, appropriate for removing piled-up snow.

* The name “Gassho-zukuri” (literally, “joined palms”) is derived from the roof’s shape, which resembles a pair of clasped palms.

In the past, sericulture (silk farming) was conducted in the airy and spacious attic, Japanese paper was made in the earthen floor, and niter, a raw material for gunpowder, was manufactured under the floor.

Brief History

People began to inhabit the area about 4,000 years ago, but for a long time it did not develop at all because of its remote location deep in the mountains.

In the 16th century, when guns were introduced to Japan, Gokayama became a major producer of niter, the raw material for gunpowder, and suddenly became an important location.

After Gokayama became a fiefdom of the Kaga Clan in 1585, niter was manufactured in secret and on a large scale.

* Incidentally, during the Edo period (1603-1868), Gokayama was the largest niter production area in Japan.

Because of the production of niter, which was also a military secret, and the fact that it was a penal colony, Gokamura was isolated from the outside world, and no bridges were built across the Shogawa River.

Since there was no overland route, people and goods were transported to and from the other side of the river by baskets suspended from ropes.

When the Meiji period (1868-1912) came around, Japan opened its borders to the outside world; as a result, the gundpowder industry in Gokayama was destroyed by the influx of cheaper niter from overseas.

Sericulture, Japanese paper, and other industries also declined in the 20th century, and Gokayama reverted back to the remote farming villages it had been before.

In 1995, the two villages of Aikura and Suganuma were registered as World Heritage sites, and Gokayama came into the limelight as a tourist destination, where it remains to this day.

Nearby Excursions

Nearby (about 30 minutes by car) is Shirakawa-go, also registered as a World Heritage site for its gassho-style architecture.

Compared to Shirakawa-go, which is a major tourist attraction, Gokayama is simple and tranquil at best, and lacks glamour at worst.

Kanazawa and Takayama are relatively close, only an hour’s drive away, so it is recommended to visit them at the same time.