Wada House: A Traditional Thatched Roof House In Shirakawa-Go, Gifu!

On the first floor there's a total of eight rooms, including the living room, bedroom, guest room and butsuma (*2). Walking through these rooms will give you an idea of how people lived back then. In former times, rooms in a Japanese home were separated by fusuma, or sliding doors. When the fusuma were opened, rooms became connected, giving them an open, spacious feeling.

*2 Butsuma: A room containing a Buddhist altar, where families worship their ancestors and Buddha.

Directly outside the house is an engawa, or veranda. When I sat down on the veranda and looked out toward the courtyard, a cool breeze came in. On this property you can feel nature's presence, even while inside the house.

Mezzanine / Second Floor - Where Silkworms Were Kept

As you climb part-way up the steep stairs, the mezzanine level with its low ceiling spreads out before you. This room was apparently a facility for storing tools and implements used in silk production.

The main part of the silk production happened here on the second floor of the house. The second floor space is large just like the first floor, but the ceiling is slightly lower, and if you look up you can see the underside portion of the house's roof. The walls are essentially the inside part of the kayabuki yane roof, exemplified by the exposed kaya (pampas grass).

As you can see by the tubs and other containers, the second floor also served as a storage place for foodstuffs. Visitors can see the various cooking tools used in the Wada House, including a large nabe hot pot that looks as though it could make enough to feed more than ten people.

Beside the display there's also a photo, so you can catch a glimpse into everyday life at the time.

Let's Check out the Great View of Shirakawa-Go!

Near the Shirakawa Village there's an observation point giving a commanding view of the entire Shirakawa-go area. It's a little far on foot so let's hop on board the convenient shuttle bus and head over there.

The shuttle bus leaves three times on the hour, in twenty minute intervals, and the one-way fare is 200 yen. The trip takes about ten minutes, and upon arrival passengers can pay the fare inside the bus.

The view from the observation point is outstanding! Can you spot Wada house from here? This is a great chance to take a picture with the village in the background, so to remember your trip by, please don't forget to visit here.

Wada family

997 Yamakoshi, Ogimachi, Shirakawa-mura, Ono-gun, Gifu 501-5627