A few years back, I chanced upon a photo shared in Facebook of a village with thatched houses covered with snow. The fairy-tale scene piqued my interest and after a little research, I found out that it was in a place called Shirakawa-go, a UNESCO World Heritage Site which I never heard of until I came across that photo. Sometimes, all it takes is one photo to inspire me to visit a place. Such was the case with Hallstatt in Austria, Perast in Montenegro as well as the Italian Dolomites.
Fortunately, the village of Shirakawa-go is much nearer than any of those European towns I enumerated. The former’s also a lot easier to get to although non-Japanese folks may initially get intimidated with Japan’s transportation system. In this post, I shall explain how to visit Shirakawa-go as well as elucidate how you can do this picturesque visit as a day trip on the journey from Kanazawa to Takayama (or vice versa) if you so wish.
How to get there
From Takayama – There are around 10 departures daily from Takayama (Nohi Bus Center) by bus. Journey time is between 50 minutes to 1 hour 7 minutes.
From Kanazawa – There are around 10 departures daily from Kanazawa (Kanazawa Station Bus Terminal #2) by bus. Some of the buses stop at Gokayama while others are direct to Shirakawa-go itself. For non-stop buses, the journey time is 1 hour and 15 minutes. For buses with stops at Gokayama, the journey time to Shirakawa-go is 1 hour and 25 minutes. If you prefer to get a guaranteed seat, you can also book here for a day tour.
bus schedule kanazawa to shirakawa-go to takayama
Suggested Route (Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go to Takayama within one day)
shirakawa-go bus station
Before visiting, I was researching about the feasibility of doing Shirakawa-go as a day trip on the way from Kanazawa to Takayama or vice versa. While there are plenty of buses running between Kanazawa and Takayama, I was checking whether the bus station at Shirakawa-go has any bag storage / coin locker facilities.
coin lockers at shirakawa-go station
Upon arriving at the Shirakawa-go station, you will find coin lockers to store your luggage behind the building. It costs 500 Yen to get one of those lockers. However, these lockers have a tendency to be full and that was the case during my visit. Instead, I left my bags at the manned counter at another building a few meters away from the bus station. They took my bags (3 small bags) and charged me 800 yen to store it for the afternoon.
Map of Shirakawa-go
Click here to download larger version
map of shirakawa-go
Shirakawa-go Viewpoint
Ever wonder where that bird’s eye view of the cute little houses at Shirakawa-go is taken? Fortunately, getting to that spot won’t require a helicopter (or a drone). That viewpoint is at the Ogimachi Joseki Observatory which can be visited via a 20 to 30 minute hike or a short bus ride. Here is the bus schedule from the village to the viewpoint. Do note that the village bus stop is around a block away from the main intercity bus station.
Bus: Ogimachi (Shirakawa-go village) to Viewpoint
Starts at 9:00 and ends at 15:40 (departs from the village every :00, :20 and :40 of the hour)
Price: 200 yen
Bus: Viewpoint back to Ogimachi (Shirakawa-go village)
Starts at 9:10 and ends at 16:10 (departs from the viewpoint every :10, :30 and :50 of the hour)
Price: 200 yen
Eating in Shirakawa-go
hoba miso at irori
One of the must-eats when at the Gifu Prefecture is the Hoba Miso which is fermented soybean paste that is grilled on magnolia leaves. I had it at Irori, a restaurant that is only a few meters away from the bus station. It is also one of the most recommended places to eat at Shirakawa-go.
Walking Around Shirakawa-Go
There are plenty of Gassho-zukuri style thatched houses open to visitors (you can refer to the map I attached for the location of these houses) which offer a peek at local life. Honestly, I though the houses are better appreciated from an elevated viewpoint but you do get to see a lot of quirky things at the ground level.
Even if you’re not into entering houses and temples (which was the case for me when I was here), you’ll find the village worthy of a stroll for an hour or two. You’ll walk past scarecrows that seemed to have jumped straight out of a story book, canals by the road which double as fishing ponds as well as chance upon a resident or two. There are plenty of souvenir shops that sell knick knacks and local eats. I personally thought 3 hours in Shirakawa-go is enough but if you have plans of appreciating the scenery for a longer period, you can also stay in a ryokan in one of those charming old wooden houses.
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Hi Bino,
Your travel blog is very informative & useful!!!
Thanks!!!
Beautiful photos and great tips about travel to shirakawa. It sounds like a great place to visit.
It is! Please visit!
Very useful. Can you advise if there are way we can get between the villages?
Or do most people just choose 1 village to visit?
I’ll stay overnight at Takayama from Tokyo, then on the tomorrow morning, will be heading to Shirakawago. I’ll bring my luggage upon check-out time in Takayama to Shirakawago. then later, will go back from Shirakawago to Toyama and straight to Tokyo. is this itineary seems possible and not to tiring? thank you.
Hi Bino. Very helpfull information about Shirakawago article. How about closing time of luggage store in ticketing terminal, do you have information about that time? Coz maybe I will go to Shirakawa and back to Takayama at 17.30, and maybe I have a luggage to store. Many thanks for your info.
Very informative. It’s 9:28 am local time. Loterally I will arrive in Takayama in about two hours. Very exciting!
Hi Bino, thanks for the detailed info on your trip from Kanazawa to Shirakawago. I am planning to visit Shirakawago -> Takayama -> Mt Fuji (then back to Tokyo) during 3rd week of April and will consider 1 night stay in Kanazawa first as per your recommendation. The bus schedule from Kanazawa to Shirakawago stated *The bus will stop in April through November. Does this mean there will not be any bus service during my visit ? Can I take the train instead ?
No, if you look carefully at the photo, the * symbol means it applies to selected timings only.
Great information.
I would just add the recommendation to reserve the bus tickets from Kanazawa to Shirakawa-go in advance, as the first ones in the day tend to be full even in medium season.