General Incorporated Foundation Shirakawa-go World Heritage Site Gassho Style Preservation Trust

Rethatching of Munegaya

Kaya placed transversally on the roof ridge of a Gassho style house is called “munegaya.” Munegaya corresponds to a place where both sides of a gabled roof are interfaced and is most likely to decay because it is a spot where rainwater hits at a right angle, so it is replaced every early spring.

Sashigaya

Much snow falls and accumulates on the roofs of Gassho style houses in winter. When snow on these roofs drops down to the ground, it strips off kaya from the roofs, so that they get dents or partially decayed. The work to insert kaya for repair into these damaged spots is called “sashigaya.”

Subsidies to Repair Traditional Buildings

Each of the national, prefectural, and municipal governments takes measures as part of their aid initiatives to provide subsidies for structures selected as traditional buildings. Nevertheless, The maintenance costs incurred in the Gassho style houses are too heavy for residents to bear so the Trust gives some subsidies for repair to residents who are not involved in the tourism industry.

Subsidies to Replace Tin-plate Roofs

In addition to the Gassho style houses, there are many houses with colored tin-plate roofs in the World Heritage Village. In view of protecting the Village’s landscapes, the Trust provides subsidies equivalent to some percentages of replacement costs to have owners of such colored tin-plate roofs use colors suited to the thatched roofs instead of bright colors.

Subsidies for cooperation in protecting landscapes

In order to improve the landscapes in the village, the Trust subsidizes partial costs related to replacing tin-plated walls with board walls, window sashes with wooden ones by using traditional crafting technique

Projects to encourage the use of a designated color for plastic sheets.

For plastic sheets used in a various kind of activities such as livelihood-related matters or construction works, the Trust encourages the use of inconspicuous brown sheets instead of blue ones and subsidizes surcharged costs for its users, thus mitigating deterioration to the landscapes.

Subsidies for Odare

Odare is a woven kaya screen to protect houses from snow, which has been traditionally used in Shirakawa Village. This odare had been used as a means to protect houses from snow, until imported materials such as reed screens and tin plates spread into Shirakawa Village. However, since the introduction of these low-priced new materials, not only odare itself but also the very technique for crafting Odare is on the verge of disappearing. Furthermore, as snow falls for a long period of time (about six months) in Shirakawa Village, most buildings in Shirakawa Village are covered with these snow-protective screens for nearly half of the year, which has a significant effect on the landscape of the World Heritage district. From the viewpoint of protecting traditional technique and preserving historic landscapes, the Trust provides subsidies for expenditures related to odare.

Subsidies for Autonomous Protective Activities (Group for Protecting the Natural Environment of Ogi-machi)

Since 1955, Shirakawa Village has faced the hardship of depopulation in conjunction with signs of modernization. With many villagers moving away, the Village was faced with the fact that entire communities were leaving. Gassho style houses numbered 264 in 1953, but had drastically decreased to 154 in 1967. Under these circumstances, the residents of Ogi-machi were determined to protect Gassho style houses, aiming at managing to stop the tide of depopulation.

The Ogi-machi Village in Shirakawa Village was selected as a district for the protection of traditional buildings in 1971. For 28 years since its decision to protect the village, the Ogi-machi Gassho Style Village has been protected mainly by the Ogi-machi residents group, “Group for Protecting the Ogi-machi Natural Environment.” Its members hold a monthly meeting to review requests for changing current conditions and seriously discuss protecting the landscapes of Ogi-machi. In autumn, the Group organizes seminars on how to reap kaya concurrently and also endeavors to foster kaya fields.

Such efforts by all the residents were able to stop the momentum of depopulation. In 28 years since the protection activities started, its population has remained almost unchanged and young people began to come back to the village. In December 1995, the village was registered as a World Heritage Site, becoming one of the “villages” representing Japan.

The Trust continuously subsidizes the annual activity costs to support the “Group for Protecting the Ogi-machi Natural Environment.” Concerted activities by the residents as a whole are the key for protecting and perpetuating such heritage.

Projects to Foster the Autonomous Protection Group

The Trust plans and conducts on-site inspection tours to other areas for residents in Ogi-machi Village, aiming to have them actually recognize the nationwide movements of various domains including protection measures and tourism, and reflect such experiences to their own activities.

Investigation and/or Research on Building a Community

The Trust conducts investigations and/or research on building a future community.

Project to Restore Rice Paddies

Currently, 2.6 ha (22%) of 11.9 ha of total rice paddy areas in the World Heritage district are now uncultivated. Increases in these abandoned areas are attributable to human-related factors such as shortage and aging of farmers and lack of motivation for farming as well as site-related factors such as wet fields and lands that prevent farm equipment from entering. The uncultivated areas themselves, of course, have an adverse effect on landscapes but also on surrounding rice paddies, resulting in a chain of generating more deserted farm areas. The objective of this project is to stop the devastation of farm lands in a way that the Trust directly restores the uncultivated area as an immediate measure to eliminate this adverse circulation, and to have local residents deepen a recognition for the value of rice paddies as well as contribute to the preservation of rural landscapes, the promotion of agricultural sightseeing and regional industries and the creation of regional industries.

Since fiscal 2004, the Trust has entered into rental-free land agreements with farmland owners to directly manage and maintain the farmlands and ensure the restoration of rice paddies. Harvested rice is given as a reward for contributing to the fund, used in school lunches, and donated to welfare facilities. The Trust plans to commercialize and sell the rice harvested in the World Heritage District as brand rice. It also considers establishing a trading system of the local production for local consumption, targeting not only rice harvested by the Trust but also that harvested in the World Heritage District in the future.

Seseragi Park Oro Parking Area (Service available: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)

This is a village-owned parking area run by the Trust under a consignment contract. The parking area is located on the opposite side of the Sho River from the World Heritage Ogi-machi Village. From the parking area, you can enter the village by crossing Deai Bridge (107-m long). It charges ¥1,000 for ordinary vehicles and ¥3,000 for large vehicles, of which ¥300 for ordinary vehicles and ¥1,000 for large vehicles are added to the Gassho Fund as contributions to the World Heritage Village Preservation.

Please use this parking lot if you plan to visit Gassho Village on foot.

Midashima Parking Area and Terao Parking Area (operating only on days when congestion is expected)

This is a village-owned temporary parking area run by the Trust under a consignment contract. This parking is operated to reduce congestion.

General Information Center, Deai no Yakata (Service available: 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.)

This is the information center where public rest rooms are installed, next to the Seseragi Park Oro Parking Area. As with the parking area, the Trust is entrusted to manage the facility. The office of the Trust is on the second floor of this facility. The Shirakawa Tourism Association is responsible for the operation of the information center, providing a wide range of information from general sightseeing guides to accommodation reservations.(Service available: 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.)

Public rest rooms, which are cleaned every evening by the staff of the Trust and the Association, are the most comfortable within the village. With the scent of Japanese cypress drifting through the air, it is like a high-class Japanese restaurant, and your mind is sure to be refreshed. It is sure to become a sight to see in Shirakawa-go. However, we ask you not to leave trash here even if no one is watching you.*Make sure you take your trash home with you!