Shirakawa-go: Inside the UNESCO Gassho-Zukuri Village

Six-thirty in the morning at the Shiroyama Tenshukaku viewpoint, mid-January, and the village below is still in shadow. Steep thatched roofs poke through fresh snow like brown teeth. The Shogawa river is the only thing moving. No tour buses yet. No drone-buzz. Just the mountains, the smell of woodsmoke from the minshuku chimneys, and a … Read more