Gifu: Shirakawago - 25th - 26th January

So last weekend (25th/26th Jan) Todd and I went on another weekend trip in Japan, so that I could check another thing off my Japan Bucket List (yes, I have one of those!). The destination this time was to see the winter light-up of Shirakawago Village in Gifu Prefecture.

One thing that I was quite excited about on this trip was the fact that we decided to do it with a tour. Todd and I don't usually do the tour thing as we are quite happy (and usually capable) of getting around where we want to go and seeing everything we have on our list. So I was quite excited about the fact that once we got on the tour bus, we didn't have to think anymore. We just followed instructions on what time we needed to be where, and in between times we could sit back and try to relax (small child and rude Hong Kong-ians making this a sometimes difficult task). This was a complete change to our usual (sometimes hectic) trips. All we had to do was sort out our bus from Tokushima to the pick-up point in Osaka, and back. Easy stuff.

So once we got started, the first stop was Gujo-Hachiman - a small former castle town which we were given a little time to look around. There were three focus points of the town that we wanted to check out (we couldn't go to the castle because it was too far to get to in the hour we had).

Gujo town was built by the riverside and so water features very prominently throughout, with many small canals running through it. We started by seeing the Sogisui water source - the most famous source of Gujo's water system. This source is separated into four sections that were used for different things; the first was used for drinking, the second to wash rice, the third to wash vegetables and the fourth to clean tools.

We also took some time to stroll down Iwaga Lane that runs next to a small, fast-flowing canal which holds quite a few carp swimming upstream. It was very relaxing and was fun to watch the fish (though the novelty wore off pretty quickly).

The bit I was interested in was the fact that this town has the first plastic/display food workshop in Japan. Display food is used extensively throughout Japan in restaurant windows and souvenir stores to show the customers what they can look forward to eating, and what the store has to sell. We didn't manage to get to the original workshop but there was a store right where we were looking around so of course we took some time to explore the different foods on sale. There was nothing big to buy, like the food you see in restaurant windows, but there was plenty of smaller novelty items for souvenirs - the sushi and takoyaki were incredibly realistic. It was funny to see that every package had a 'Do Not Eat' sticker on it, which probably wasn't a bad idea as some of the smaller items could definitely be mistaken for real food. I was a little disappointed that we didn't see the original workshop, but at least we got to see some of the items in the original town.

After looking around for an hour, it was time to get back on the bus and on to the main event - seeing the winter light up at Shirakawago. Shirakawago is a world heritage site in the mountains of Gifu prefecture that is famous for its traditional gassho-zukuri farmhouses. The farmhouses have very steep thatched roofs and are called gassho because that is the position of the hands with the fingertips pressed together in prayer. The roofs are incredibly thick and are designed to withstand the heavy snowfall during winter time.

Shirakawago in the summer

A gassho-zukuri farmhouse with a steep thatched roof

Bridge to the village

I wanted to go to this village during the winter season as, for a few weekends during January and February, the village holds a special 'light-up' event where they shine bright lights onto their houses at night for a pretty spectacular site. The whole reason Todd and I took a tour to this place was because it is quite difficult to get to on your own, and access during the winter season with so much snow is pretty sketchy. I had seen photos of the light-up event and really wanted to see it for myself, so that's what we did. When we got there we had dinner before we went out to explore. It was delicious - soba noodles in a broth with beef, with rice and pickles on the site. A normal, simple yet hearty meal to prepare ourselves for the two hours in the cold that we would have to explore the village. We ate dinner fairly quickly as we wanted plenty of time to explore the village.

We crossed the pedestrian bridge over the river to the village and started to meander our way through, admiring the numerous farmhouses around us. We were making our way towards the observation point because we wanted to see the village with the best view possible and heard that that was the best place to do it.

Behind the houses you can see the path running up to the observation point

Proving I was there!

and Todd was too!

They had a few fun things for kids (and adults it seems) to play in

Whilst walking through the village we found a farmhouse that we could go into for just 300 yen, so obviously we did that. It was pretty crazy how big the place was. For some reason I had always just assumed the houses were two levels, with the first floor being really tall, but no, it was split into 5 levels, (which  makes so much sense). the ground floor being the living area with all the floors above used for storage and silk-worm cultivation. We had a great time being blown away by the vastness of the house. I was particularly interested in the fire that they had inside the house, which goes against all common sense being in a completely wooden house, but it warmed it incredibly and gave the house a very homely feel.

The thick roof of the farmhouse

On the ground floor of the farmhouse

Sitting round the fire

First floor storage (obviously this held lots of older equipment for tourists to see)

View from the first floor

Looking up into the attic space

After looking around the farmhouse we made our way up to the observation point. There were so many people it was pretty hard to get a good shot. Todd and I also didn't think about needing a tripod to set our cameras on so we had some trouble getting a non-blurred photo out of it, but we managed in the end and I think we were both fairly happy with the final pictures we got.

Back through the village for final photos and back on the bus to warm up (I was getting a little chilly at that point!!) On to the hotel which was very nice and definitely out of our normal price-range. It had an onsen but I decided not to go and Todd decided to keep me company in the room. So instead we relaxed with a coffee to warm us up and then called it a night.

Relaxing with our coffee!

The next morning we had a delicious breakfast and then got back on the bus to start the long journey home. On the way back to Osaka we had two main stops. The first place was Hyotenka-no-mori (roughly translated as sub-zero forest). This place had huge formations of ice and snow built up since the beginning of September. The weather in the area is always freezing so its the perfect opportunity to build layers and layers of ice onto the surroundings to make a pretty spectacular sight. We had no idea about this place so it was huge surprise when we got there. Apparently you can go at night and they light up the ice with different coloured lights, which I'm sure would also be fantastic to see, but it was pretty impressive just seeing it in the day, and the whole experience was made that much more magical because it was snowing heavily when we got there - a true winter wonderland. Although we didn't know about this place, nor was it the main reason for coming on this tour, I have to say that I think it was my favourite part of the trip. It was just something that was other-worldly!

Layers of snow and ice built around a tree

Hallway leading to the float room

The last main stop on the way home was a little place called Matsuri-no-mori (festival forest). We stopped there for lunch (lovely sukiyaki) but we also had a little time to look around. There wasn't much to do there but we did stop into their museum which turned out to be pretty good. The museum showcases the main aspects of Takayama's festival. We went down a long hallway that showed scale models of various floats used in the festival, and there was a chance to play with the different puppets used. Not only this but on display are replicas of the world's biggest drum that you can play with. The sound was incredible and you felt it right in your bones. They were huge! The corridor then opens up into a cavern-like area that holds life-size floats that are used during the festivals. At various points during the hour, these floats come alive and mechanised puppets perform short pieces from the festival. Usually these puppets (a key aspect of the festival) are manipulated by puppeteers, but for demonstration purposes, the ones in the museum were operated by machine. It was a really cool little museum and it was just a shame we didn't have more time to spend there because we could get to see all of the puppet's performances.

The sound was incredible!

Using the puppet - these things were a little creepy!

The world's largest drum!

A float shaped like a ship - how cool is that?

Room with the floats

And that was that. A very packed-in trip with lots of travelling, but overall I think it was definitely worth it and had a brilliant time. It was great seeing some of the things I wouldn't have seen if we hadn't gone with a tour too (especially hyotenka-no-mori) so I'm pretty happy about that!

Yay. Two more big bucket list trips planned, keep and eye out for updates!