Part two of the Kanazawa post is actually going to focus on Shirakawa-go, a little little town on the UNESCO World Heritage List that is an easy day trip to make from Kanazawa.
The hour and a half
bus ride in and of itself was extremely scenic through the lush mountains.
Shirakawa-go is nestled at the foot of a range of hills. There was a long
suspension bridge between the parking area and the village which was like the
wardrobe to Narnia. Everything changed back into the 1800's as soon as you got
over the little river.
The houses all looked like those picturesque tour brochures with the steeped slope to help the snow slide down. I learned that there are actually one or two floors underneath the roof, much like an attic, which is an ingeniously Japanese way of using your space wisely. Being so old, they are extremely weary of fire damage, so idle smoking is not allowed and there are antiquated fire hose reels on every other building. I even got a picture of the the town's little fire engine which was absolutely adorable!
Definitely worth the trip. It was really cool. I can't imagine that it is a very fun place to live with hordes of tourists (I mean seriously there were at least 20 tourists buses when I went!) gazing at your houses and taking tons of pictures, but I suppose they are used to it at this point. Nevertheless I am glad that they do let intrusive tourists in though, because it was a very nice trip. I'll let the pictures say the rest. :)
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