Sunday, July 11, 2010
Japan Nostalgia
It’s been four years since we left Japan to return to France. From time to time, I check out my old pictures taken in Japan et I must admit feeling some kind of nostalgia. The fact that we have not returned to Japan this year makes all this more sensitive.
The two villages, Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, containing numerous Gassho-zukuri style houses were added to the Unesco World Heritage list in 1995. Located in a mountainous region that was cut off from the rest of the world for a long period of time, these villages with their Gassho-style houses subsisted on the cultivation of mulberry trees and the rearing of silkworms. The large houses with their steeply pitched thatched roofs are the only examples of their kind in Japan.
The main characteristic of these wooden houses is their high, peaked roofs. These are meant against the heavy snow fall that are frequent in this mountainous area. These large houses can be 18 m long and 10 m wide. There are up to four floors where the whole family lives. The upper floor, under the roof is traditionally reserved for the rearing of silkworms.
We visited this place twice, at different season. In August, the rice paddies are green and the scenery is quiet.
In winter, the place is quite different. First of all, the green of the rice paddies has been replaced by the white the snow. And it is cold. Very cold.
One can quickly understand the purpose of these steeply pitched thatched roofs.
Nowadays, one of the main activity of the place is Tourism. I’ve heard that some 1.5 million visitors come every year !
The view of the various night lighting is wonderful and helps to forget about the freezing cold.
