"Shirakawa-go - UNESCO World Heritage" Ogimachi by aukahkay

Shirakawa-go is situated at the foot of Mt. Haku, a mountain in the northwestern part of Gifu. It is a quiet village among the hills surrounded by mountains, with rice fields and a river running through it. About 110 houses with steep rafter-roofs stand next to each other, and UNESCO registered the whole of Shirakawa-go as a World Heritage Site in 1995.

Ogimachi is a small town of about 100 people. The town has many historical homes built in a special thatched A-frame style unique to the region. These homes are over one hundred years old and require constant maintainance to preserve their thatched roofs and wooden structure. The roofs need to be completely replaced every 17 years or so and cost over a million dollars to construct. The houses are very large and originally were multi-family, and most still seem to be so, although many also include rooms for tourists to rent nightly as well.