Kanazawa and Shirakawa-go 2024

Kanazawa and Shirakawa-go:

Kanazawa:
Kanazawa is the capital of Ishikawa Prefecture, on Japan’s central Honshu Island. It's known for well-preserved Edo-era districts, art museums and regional handicrafts. Kanazawa Castle was built in the 1580s, after the defeat of the Peasant’s Kingdom, Japan's only Buddhist fiefdom.

Nagamachi was a samurai district located at the foot of the former Kanazawa Castle, where samurai and their families used to reside. The area preserves a historic atmosphere with its remaining residences, earthen walls, private entrance gates, narrow lanes and water canals.

Kanazawa castle: From 1583 to the end of the Edo Period, Kanazawa Castle was the seat of the powerful Maeda Clan, lords of Kaga, a feudal domain ranking second only to the Tokugawa possessions in terms of size and wealth.

The castle burnt down several times over the centuries, and the most recent fires of 1881 were survived only by two storehouses and the Ishikawa-mon Gate.

Shirakawa-go:
The Shirakawa-go lines the Shogawa River Valley in the remote mountains that span from Gifu to Toyama Prefectures. Ogimachi is the largest village and main attraction of Shirakawa-go. Declared a UNESCO world heritage site in 1995, the village is home to several dozen well preserved gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some of which are more than 250 years old.

Gassho-zukuri means "constructed like hands in prayer", as the farmhouses' steep thatched roofs resemble the hands of Buddhist monks pressed together in prayer. The architectural style developed over many generations and is designed to withstand the large amounts of heavy snow that falls in the region during winter. The roofs, made without nails, provided a large attic space used for cultivating silkworms.

Wada-ke House: The Wada family was one of the wealthiest families and village leaders of Ogimachi. Their former home is the largest gassho-zukuri farmhouse in the village, and is now open to the public as a museum.

Kanda-ke House: This picturesque house is one of the best preserved farmhouse turned museums in Ogimachi. Located in the center of the village, one can get good views of the surrounding houses from the windows on its upper floors.