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I Spent a Magical Night at Japan’s Most Beautiful Snow Village | Shirakawa-go



I Spent a Magical Night at Japan’s Most Beautiful Snow Village | Shirakawa-go

Now loading the video…. January 21st, 2025 Now driving my car for a winter road trip with my wife This time, we are staying in Shirakawa-go, Gifu Prefecture for one night Shirakawa-go is a secluded historical village that is located about 4 hours away from Osaka by car I was originally supposed to visit there by train but it takes over 7 hours… So I chose to drive a car myself! We drive through winter mountains and go deep in Gifu Prefecture, the scenery being so nice Arrived at Shirakawa-go Entrance Let’s park the car and walk the village until today’s hotel check-in Shirakawa-go is always a busy tourist destination What you can see here is the old Japan After parking a car, you walk Deaibashi Bridge to the main village It’s a 107 m/351 ft walking bridge from which offers beautiful landscapes After the bridge, you suddenly enter the old Japanese neighborhoods Shirakawa-go has only about 500 residents It’s a sightseeing area but people live here actually Here is the main street of Shirakawa-go Most shops and restaurants are here The majority of the houses in Shirakawa-go are made in traditional Gassho style When you put your hands together in prayer, your arms look like a roof, so we say “Gassho”, which means, “make prayer hands” The roofs are built of thatch The thatch-covered roofs can even protect from rain and snow entering the house Some private houses are open to public Let’s enter Kanda Family House The house is actually inhabited Let’s be quiet The main living spaces Most houses in Shirakawa-go have a Irori(hearth) in the center of dining area It’s warm in winter Ima, where it’s said Gods live Kanda Family House is 4-storied These large spaces in the attic is used as a workshop for raising silkworms, etc The top floor of the house offers nice views Located at the foot of Mt. Hakusan, Shirakawa-go gets deep snow every year The white color the snow adds to Shirakawa-go is even beautiful Let’s eat a local cuisine around here We got in Shiraogi, local restaurant The Shirakawa-go’s most famous cuisine is Hoba Miso Yaki The dish is prepared by spreading homemade koji miso paste onto hoba(magnolia leaves), which are then grilled on your table They are very alluring and go well with rice Comes with miso soup Pickles Soba noodles And other vegetable dishes that are eaten with rice The delicious meal makes us warm Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine, located deep within the Shirakawa-go village The protector of the whole vilage At the entrance, there is a cedar tree believed to have been planted in 1635 The shrine itself is believed to have been built in 708 Ever since, the shrine has protected the village as a gardian deity of Shirakawa-go At areas beyond the shrine, there are rice fields rather than tourist spots There are not many houses in the areas Oops, the main street now looks too crowded… About time to check in today’s hotel We actually stay in one of those Gassho style houses Arrived We stay in Guesthouse Bunroku, run by Katada Family So, Katada Family House We got welcomed by an old lady (We chose to call her grandma!) As a Japanese, it feels like staying in a grandma’s house in the countryside There are only 3 rooms for accomodation in this house on 1st floor It was 16,000JPY/112.0USD for one person It’s one room with Tatami floor There is a Kotatsu table in the middle It’s a low table with a special futon underneath that has an electric heater There is no a.c. but has only heater and Kotatsu Making tea is self-serve It’s a custom to drink tea and snack first when you arrive at Ryokan(Japanese traditional) hotel room We are served Shirakawa-go Senbei(rice cracker) Nice There is a trash can, tissue box Television There are a lot of power outlets Checking the window views I think it’s very good There are futons and pillows prepared beforehand (Ryokan lady will make bed while you eat dinner) There is newspaper Spending relaxing time and think about nothing It’s pretty nice Checking facilities Shared sink Here are complimentary toothbrushes Toilets Quite clean It’s thanksfully a Washlet one Here is a shared bathroom It’s refurbished and looks clean here also There are lockers available Can read some comic books This is a Katada family crest, cool The house is 4-storied and the upper 3 floors are for an actual living Behind the house is a garden with a pond I was told there are carps in the pond in summer They are not in now Around 4:30PM, the village gets less busy with tourists I walked about 15 mins and got to an observatory deck for the village There are over 100 houses in the village But in 1940s, there were about 300 houses Looks like 30 percent of the people now living in the Shirakawa-go are over 65 years 5:40PM Seems dinner meals are ready Wow wow What a feast! Meals are served in a Japanese traditional dining room What was surprising is that these all meals were mostly prepared by one grandma The meals include a lot of local ingredients Tastes Japanese authentic All the dishes go to rice We enjoyed Hida Beef grilled on the table It’s the most expensive beef brand in the nearby area of Shirakawa-go Not gonna lie but the dinner meal was the most delicious I’ve ever eaten in this kind of accomodation The atmosphere this traditional space provides to us makes the meal even more delicious By the way, rice can be refilled for free any time Hot soba noodles were added later For dessert, kiwi, apple and dried persimmon I will not forget this dining experience The grandma made bed for us while we were having dinner Let’s go take a bath There is an Onsen place(hot springs) in the village and you can freely borrow towels here and also, don’t forget to wear Kimono garments Use an outer jacket for Kimono when it’s cold outside Oh, it’s very dark Grandma gave us a handy lighting It’s even creepy at night When we randomly looked up the sky, we got quite amazed by Shirakawa-go There were thousands of stars! It must have been the most beautiful night I’ve ever experienced in Japan You should see them in person! We walked about 15 mins while gazing the stars got to Onsen hot springs Shirakawa-go Onsen It’s pretty a large Onsen place I enjoyed the large bath, sauna, open-air bath beside the river, and cold bath! After the bath, enjoyed the foot massager bar Choose from 4 different kinds of foot massagers We turned off the heater when sleeping for safety but instead, we were given Yutanpo(hot water bottles) It makes the futon warm enough Traditional style of sleeping is not bad During night, there were some soft of Spirited Away bives… Good morning! Breakfast meals! Looks like a healthy breakfast Indigenous cuisines of the region Hoba Miso Yaki, again Omelette We’ve got two bowls of rice But for me, I need more😄 Miso Soup Almost all go to rice It’s a very nostalgic breakfast meal Oh rice! What I learned during the stay was the grandma was very very good at cooking I also liked the kettle being heated on the heater haha Economical The check out time is by 9:00AM We walked outside for some time afterwards and chose to leave town The stay at Gassho style house was actually amazing The real Japanese people’s lives are here As you see, the street at morning is less crowded Leaving Shirakawa-go and move to Takayama for the next destination It’s about a 30 min drive on highways Takayama also leaves historical houses and streets in the town Arrived early at Takayama I’ve visited Takayama before but I wanted to take my wife here also Takayama retains a traditional touch of Edo Period of Japan(1603 – 1868), especially in its beautifully preserved old town You can enjoy time traveling back to old Japan Walking the narrow streets of Sanmachi Suji historic district The streets are lined up with wooden merchants’ houses dating to the Edo Period You can enjoy some unique street foods, do Sake(rice wine) brewery hopping, and shopping We randomly found an unmanned Sake drinkiing bar First, do Gacha Gacha for 200JPY coins Get an Ochoko cup(to drink Sake) and original coin to insert Sake dispenser I drive today so my wife drinks Sake instead haha We try drink Fukayamagiku, the local Sake of the region Takayama offers nostalgic feels in every corner We got to get a riverside seat at a local restaurant Having meals with the red bridge in the background Eating Shabu Shabu You dip pork meats and veggies in the hot pot until the color of them change Put them in the Gomadare(sesame dressing) Welcome to Hida Takayama. Have a nice trip! We ran into a party of white dogs How cute! Seeing these dogs will make your day Thank you for watching the video Please leave a like and comment if you enjoyed the video! Rock, Scissors, Paper… 1 2 3 Paper See you soon in the next travel!

Today, we are visiting Shirakawa-go in Shirakawa Town, Gifu Prefecture for a stay. Just relax and enjoy the video!

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🔴Riding Japan’s Immersive Virtual-Reality Highway Bus full of Monitors

* I use Google Translate to translate English subtitles to multiple languages. So please know that there might be some errors or miswordings in those languages.
* Please understand that information on the video may not be 100% correct.

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#ASMR #Japantravel #Trip #Shirakawago #Gifu #Onsen #Snow #travelgeek

31 Comments

  2. @haroldishoy2113

    What an amazing journey, Shirakawa-go is a place I would like to visit every year. Thank you for showing us this beautiful place.

  3. @beingilluminous

    Thank you for sharing so many of these little details. For me, being able to take in the history, the authenticity of immersion with a culture I may not be able to visit in this lifetime, yet, I can honor and respect the people who created it, and people-like yourself-who help us see how we are all connected, across the globe and history. I appreciate the efforts made to share this with us. 🙏🙏🙌🙌

  12. @Helena-ix3cd

    What a fantastic video you made. This is the first time I’ve watched a video here but it seems like you’re there yourself, I’ve subscribed right away. What beautiful places all and a lot of respect for the grandmother. 😊🤗

  13. @TRAVELADVENTURES-xm2vo

    Thank you for introducing us to China's rich and diverse culture. Your video is really meaningful and helps us understand more about this country!

  14. @THEminiBACKPACKERS

    Great video! You really captured the charm of Shirakawa-go. We recently visited with our little adventurers and filmed our experience too—such an incredible place! If anyone’s curious about a family perspective, check out our video

  15. @Guy-uy5gc

    The village at night looked breathtaking, absolutely beautiful !! ❤❤ THANK YOU for sharing your stay with everyone.

  17. @sceylan5499

    Bu guzel köye bayıldım,geleneksel bir evde konaklamak ve oranın nefis yemeklerini yemek harika olmalı🎉❤

  20. @godsgarden1573

    Psalms 127:1

    “(A Song of degrees for Solomon.) Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.”

  22. @rezaalan3991

    Great video. Second time you visiting this place, but this time you didn't alone and come with driving. I think it's fast by driving just because when using train, you need some transit. Ah that snow covering the house make the scenery looks dramatic.

  27. @shereneleong1402

    Gorgeous! 😍 You captured everything beautifully! 👍🏻👏🏻 I’ve been to Hokkaido, Osaka and Kyoto, all beautiful. Shirakawa-go is my next destination. Always wanted to visit this amazing place. Thank you so much for sharing. 🙏🏻

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