Shirakawa-go, Japan: Inside Ogimachi's UNESCO Gassho-Zukuri Village, a Mountain Hamlet Built for War, Silk, and Snow

Cross the swaying Deai suspension bridge into Ogimachi, the largest hamlet of Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage village hidden in the mountains of Japan's Gifu Prefecture. In this episode of Walking Tour of Japan, we walk beneath the village's famous gassho-zukuri farmhouses, steep thatched roofs built without a single nail to shed the region's heavy snow, and step inside the grand Wada House to uncover the secret trade that built this valley's fortune: silkworms raised in the rafters and gunpowder fermented beneath the floorboards. Along the way we visit the rare thatched-roof Myozen-ji Temple, the Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine and its autumn sake festival, and climb the mountain trail to the Shiroyama Viewpoint for the postcard panorama of the entire village.After the walk, we share where to eat, including Soba Wakimoto for handmade buckwheat noodles and Hida beef, the tatami-mat dining room at Hakusuien, and the family-run Shiraogi. We also point you toward nearby detours worth adding to your trip: the Gassho-zukuri Minkaen open-air museum, the quieter Gokayama hamlets of Ainokura and Suganuma, and the historic old town of Takayama.Visit NorthStarTravelers.com to explore our other podcast shows and browse gear recommendations for wherever your next journey takes you.