{"id":34317,"date":"2016-04-05T09:18:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-05T07:18:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/peregrinusmundi.com\/balade-a-travers-les-gassho-zukuri\/"},"modified":"2020-07-12T18:18:10","modified_gmt":"2020-07-12T16:18:10","slug":"walk-through-the-gassho-zukuri","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/peregrinusmundi.com\/en\/walk-through-the-gassho-zukuri\/","title":{"rendered":"Walk through the Gassh\u014d-zukuri"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Taking advantage of the fact that Monday March 21 is a public holiday in Japan, I went for a three-day weekend to visit the regions of Shirakawa-g\u00f4 and Gokayama. Stretching along the Shogawa river in the remote mountains from the north of Gifu prefecture to Toyama prefecture, the place was declared World Heritage by UNESCO since 1995. Its peculiarity comes from the fact that these regions are home to villages with numerous Gassh\u00f4-zukuri, traditional dwellings in mountainous environments, some of which are over 250 years old. These houses are built of wood without any nails, with a very sloping roof made of straw to support the snowfall. Their name \u201cgassh\u00f4-zukuri<\/em>\u201d means \u201cconstruction in the shape of praying hands\u201d.<\/p>

After three hours by train to the north, I arrive at Takayama, where I booked a hostel for Saturday evening. I jump on the bus which takes me in an hour to the first world heritage village: Shirakawa-g\u00f4. Shiragawa-g\u00f4 is the largest of the three UNESCO World Heritage villages. It is also the most accessible and therefore the most touristic. He has around fifty Gassh\u00f4-zukuri.<\/p>

I arrive around 2 p.m. in the village with a cohort of tourists and gray weather. Fortunately the mist-covered mountains give to the place a special atmosphere. I spend the afternoon wandering around the village and enjoying the peculiar architecture of the Gassh\u00f4-zukuri. The thickness of the straw roof is impressive: almost a meter thick! Windows made of white paper add to the peculiarity of the architecture. A few rays of sun light up the end of the afternoon and then I go back to Takayama, to spend the night.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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