Shirakawa-go, Japan - 4 September 2015

I'm unable to reserve a bus seat on the 8.50am bus to Shirakawa-go so head over to the station early (on Friday, September 4) to purchase a ticket and join the line. I do not want to miss this bus as the next one isn't for a few hours.

The bus arrives at 8.44am, we are all on within a couple of minutes, then dead on time we depart the station. My first bus trip in Japan begins, although when it's only a 50 minute journey I'm not sure if you can call it a bus trip.

As we get out of Takayama city the clouds start to darken and become lower over the hills. It's not looking good (that it won't rain).

The majority of the journey is through tunnels, when not in a tunnel I'm looking at rice paddies and mountains with the clouds getting lower and lower as the rain gets heavier. Buggar. I don't have a rain jacket nor umbrella so will be purchasing one as soon as I get off the bus.



After exiting an 11km tunnel (must google to see if this is the longest tunnel in the world…) the sun is out with blue sky and no more rain - ye ha please stay like this!

We pull into Shirakawa-go (one of Japan's UNESCO World Heritage Sites) right on time and the sun is still shining. I collect a local map and head off to the village, walking over the suspension bridge.



Shirakawa-go is a quaint village with lots of streams running through it surrounded by thatched roof houses, rice paddies and flower and vegetable beds. It would be a great place to come to and immerse yourself in Japanese life.

I enjoy just wandering around taking it all in.

     

Ange and Aaron had recommended going to Wada House, locally known as Wada-ke. This is a Gasshō-zukuri, "prayer-hands construction" style house which is known by the thatched and steeply slanting roof. The design is exceptionally strong and in the winter allow the houses to withstand the weight of the snowfalls. On walking inside I’m amazed at how big it is – they definitely know how to layout the ‘rooms’. The upstairs is just as big and has great views of the village.



I continue my wandering around taking in the fresh air while walking through rice paddies. This is the life. From here I wander up the hill to Shiroya-ma Tenbodai (observation point) where I can look down and out to the Village below.

  
 


The view is amazing - such a shame the clouds are still hanging around. I enjoy soaking up the view while listening to the constant chitter chatter around me. It’s nice not to be able to understand.





I am just about to head down the hill when the heavens open, think I'll take shelter to it passes (which I hope won't be long).
The showers aren't passing anytime soon so its umbrella shopping I go.

I walk down the hill a different route, more like "hiking" but it's pleasant and I’m mainly covered from the rain by the trees.

   


The rain is really coming down now so I head to the information centre to see if I can bring my bus reservation forward 2.5 hours (thankfully there is no issues with that and even better there is space); absolutely nothing worse than wandering around in the rain and with the increase of tourists since I've arrived it's a good time to be leaving. Plus I feel like I've seen everything there is to see.

We depart Shirakawa-go 2 minutes late - a big deal in Japan - time to return to Takayama.

Shirakawa-go is a charming little village that I would be more than happy to return too!