Shirakawa-go, Gifu Prefecture’s Village Stuck in Time + Tasting Hida Beef! — *Shirakawa-go is a village that goes back at least 400 years*

Designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Shirakawa-Go is a small little historical village in the Gifu prefecture of Japan that is stuck in time. It’s a popular attraction/town which is famed for their traditional wooden and straw farmhouses known as gassho-zukuri.

I’ve visited this village once in the past, maybe 5 years ago during the snowy winter, but that’s a different story with a completely different vibe. Fast forward to now, I went to visit Shirakawa-go again but this time during early winter when snow is yet to fall.

Snow or not, Shirakawa-go is still a gorgeous village to explore and is definitely something you won’t wanna miss whenever you are in Gifu. So if you’re interested, join me as I bring you to explore Shirakawa-go!

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A UNESCO World Heritage Site

shirakawa-go ogimachi village — *It feels like I have travelled back in time*

As previously mentioned, Shirakawa-go is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was designated so in 1995, this means Shirakawa-go is a valuable and significant cultural landmark in our world.

However, even though Shirakawa-go is a tourist attraction, I MUST emphasize that this village… Is still a village. By that I mean that people live here, work here, and grew up here. You’ll notice that there are signs all around the village telling you to keep down your voice and avoid creating disturbances to the locals.

So remember when you are visiting Shirakawa-go, people live here, be respectful. Don’t litter or intrude into someone’s private property because their house looks cool (although their houses do look pretty cool).

Staying in a Minshuku in Shirakawa-go

shirakawa-go minshuku ryokan — *A lone traveller admiring the gassho zukuri farmhouses*

While you can certainly take a quick one day trip here, like I did, you do have the option to stay the night at a local inn known as Minshuku. I would recommend you do if you are planning to explore the surrounding areas of this little village, to which there are quite a few things to see such as the Ogimachi Castle and even the larger Shirakawa Village just down the hill.

Some Minshuku that are popular in Shirakawa-go that I would recommend are:

CURIO Shirakawago - A comfortable and relaxing hotel that takes advantage of the open air natural design with comfortable modern rooms.
Shirakawago Onyado Yuinosho - Traditional ryokan with very classy and modern facilities and bedrooms, also includes an onsen hot spring bath!
Shirakawago Guest House Kei -A comfortable dormitory style guesthouse with a clean and cozy environment.

I will tell you that the first two are quite expensive, maybe even ridiculously expensive, however the hospitality and service is impeccable, as to be expected from a Japanese Ryokan experience.

Note that most, if not all, Minshuku are located in the Shirakawa Village NOT the World Heritage Site.

Exploring Shirakwa-go’s Ogimachi Village

shirakawa-go ogimachi village gifu — *Shirakawa-go still exudes quite a lot of charm*

I know you’re probably confused about my last sentence but yes, the World Heritage site is known as Ogimachi which is only a part of the town of Shirakawa-go. The rest of the town is located a little bit downhill. But yes, Ogimachi is the main highlight and where all the tourists go to when they visit Shirakawa-go.

If you are planning to visit Shirakawa-go it can be a little bit hard as the village is far away from convenient transportation infrastructure, But if you’re up for it, I’ll tell you how to get to Shirakawa-go at the end of this blog post.

What I do recommend is going on a One-day Tour to Shirakawa-go like this one. What’s great about this is that the tour includes a transport bus which will pick you up at the JR Kanazawa Station the nearby city of Kanazawa. Not only will the tour bring you to Shirakawa-go, it’ll also bring you to Gokayama Ainokura Gassho Village, another traditional village nearby. Plus the tour includes lunch! You can use the link above to book the tour for a great price!

ogimachi bridge — *The Shou river doesn’t really look like a river anymore…*

Before you enter the Ogimachi village you’ll have to cross the Ogimachi Suspension Bridge which crosses over the Shou River (or what’s left of it…) and connects Ogimachi to the rest of Shirakawa-go.

Before the bridge is where you can also buy tickets to enter, the Shirakawa-go’s entrance fee is 300 JPY for adults and 150 JPY for children.

The bridge is actually quite long and a bit scary if you are afraid of heights, but it does provide a gorgeous view of the surrounding areas and the dried up Shou river below.

gassho zukuri farmhouses — *Admire the 3 iconic Gassho-Zukuri farmhouses in the center of the village*

While strolling around Shirakwa-go you’ll definitely notice these 3 Gassho-zukuri style houses located in the center of the village. This is the iconic landmark of the whole village so remember to take photos of these houses before you leave!

These Gassho style farmhouses are over 250 years old and can withstand heavy rainfall as well as snowfall. And the coolest part is that these were built without a single nail! How is that even possible? Japanese engineering is on another level.

shirakawa-go scarecrow — *This guy looks a bit under the weather…*

When I said that this village is still a village with people living here, it shows.

When walking around you’ll notice some houses with cars parked in front, no tress-passing signs, and tools and gadgets pressed up against their front wall.

Just a reminder for tourists to be respectful to the people living here.

And also could you imagine living in a place like this? Must be amazing to wake up to such a beautiful atmosphere everyday.

shirakawa-go souvenir shop — *Plenty of charming souvenirs to bring back home*

Along the way you’ll find many local shops selling Gifu specialties such as local snacks, ornaments, or souvenirs.

There are a bunch of street food stalls and souvenir shops so take your time to look around, however we here at Feastography are foodies first and travelers second, so I’ve dedicated a whole section further down this blog post to showing you guys what are the must eat foods here at Shirakawa-go, if you are a meat lover be sure to read on. ;)

But before we get to the food, I want to first talk about the atmosphere. The atmosphere at Shirakawa-go is so relaxing and serene!

I went during the early winter season so the weather was just beautiful with a nice chill breeze all around. Not to mention the quiet and peaceful atmosphere of this humble village.

There are also these little (or big) stuffed “plushie” guys everywhere. These guys are the called Sarubobo, which means monkey baby, and they are the mascot of the Hida region where Shirakawa-go is located.

You can buy these guys and they actually at as amulets with different colors having different meanings, if you are interested you can read more about these cute Sarubobo guys at this website.

Shirakawa-go Specialty Foods to Try!

Within Shirakawa-go you’ll find many foods to try but the main food item you have to seek out is Hida Beef, which is a specialty of the Gifu prefecture.

Here are some of the foods you must try when you visit Shirakawa-go.

Gohei Mochi

Similar to your regular mochi but a little more chunky, Gohei Mochi is a traditional snack that is popular in the Gifu region of Japan as well as surrounding prefectures.

The difference between your regular mochi is that Gohei Mochi is grilled on a skewer and lathered with salty and savory miso sauce.

The texture of Gohei Mochi is firmer and more “chunky” compared to regular mochi, you can feel the individual rice grains as you chew. I also enjoy the salty and slightly bitter miso sauce that is coated on. The added sesame seeds also give the snack a nice nutty fragrance.

An Assortment of Hida Wagyu Sushi

From here on out, it’s all about Hida Beef!

There is one shop on the main street of Shirakawa-go that serves an assortment of Hida Beef Nigiri Sushi. You can pick how much you want, I went with the 3 piece set served on a potato cracker. The 3 pieces of Hida Beef Nigiri Sushi are:

Hida Beef Gunkan Roll with raw egg yolk
Shirakawa-go Yuiuma Pork Nigiri with wasabi and salt
A5 Hida Beef Nigiri with soy sauce marinated garlic slice

I’ll be honest, these sushi bites were pretty bland. I wasn’t sure if it was the cold weather that made the sushi cold and tasteless, but I couldn’t really taste much of the Hida beef, it was a really subtle flavor.

The vendor did recommend me to eat the sushi within 3 minutes, maybe I was too busy taking photos that I didn’t realise the 3 minutes have already gone by. Potato cracker was tasty though.

Hida Beef Wagyu Bun

Something that did exceed my expectations where these delightfully fluffy and juicy Hida Beef Buns!

Usually buns would be filled with pork or vegetables, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a beef filled bun, so I was totally excited to try this snack!

The bun itself was really soft and fluffy, while the Hida beef inside was juicy, fatty, and tender. It was a very filling bun as well, I would totally recommend this.

Hida Wagyu Beef Skewer

hida beef wagyu skewer — *Tiny little skewer, but packed full of meaty juicy flavor*

If you want the purest form of Hida beef, Shirakawa-go has plenty of stalls selling grilled Hida beef skewers.

you’ll have the option of either BBQ sauce or salt, I went with the salt to taste the pure flavors of the beef.

The beef skewer was tender and juicy with a little bit of smokiness from the char caused by the grill. Although I think the texture is a little bit more tough than regular A5 Wagyu, this Hida beef skewer is still tender and delicious.

Hida Beef and Potato Croquette

Lastly, I tried this Hida Beef Wagyu and potato croquette which happens to be filled with more potato than wagyu.

It’s tasty, with a crunchy golden shell and warm, fluffy mashed potato on the inside. There are little tiny chunks of Hida beef hiding amongst the potato, not really enough to taste the beef sadly.

And this croquette also had a pretty good kick to it as well, the mashed potato is a little spicy and peppery.

Details About Shirakawa-go

Shirakawa-go is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Gifu prefecture of Japan. It’s a small village featuring farmhouses constructed in a traditional Gassho-Zukuri style.

Location: Ogimachi, Shirakawa, Ono District, Gifu 501-5627, Japan

Opening Hours: 8:00AM - 5:00PM | Mon - Sun

Entrance Fee: 300 JYP for adults, 150 JPY for children

How to get to Shirakawa-go from Tokyo

If you are traveling from Tokyo, it may be a little bit difficult. You’ll want to be located at the town of Kanazawa which is the nearer to Shirakawa-go.

So the journey will be from Tokyo to Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go which will roughly take 6 hours.

From Tokyo to Kanazwa, the fastest option is to take the JR trains, if you have a JR Pass you can take the Hokuriku Shikansen from Tokyo to Kanazawa. For non JR Pass holders the fare will cost 7,340 JPY.

Once at Kanazawa you can take the local bus to Shirakawa-go at the Nohi - Hokutetsu Bus Terminal.

You can purchase a Purchase a JR Railway Pass here if you need it, this will make transportation throughout Japan significantly easier and more cost effective.

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