There are some places in Japan that are so magical, the less said about them the better.
Shirakawa-go is one of them.
I will, however, give a little background to shine valuable light on the historical/cultural significance of this breathtaking spot.
Shirakawa-go is a village of thatch-roofed houses. The use of thatched roofs — kayabuki no yane (茅葺きの屋根) — goes back thousands of years. They are replaced every 30 to 50 years, a procedure known as yanefuki (屋根葺き), meaning roofing. Thatch comes from Japanese silver grass.
There are over 100,000 such traditional houses in Japan. In fact, in Tambasasayama, my home town, we have several.
This particularly charming traditional village is located in Shirakawa-mura (白川村), Gifu Prefecture, and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
