Historical Village of Shirakawa-go

Our road trip continues to the UNESCO World Heritage Site and nearby village of Shirakawa-go.

 

It looks amazing and peaceful from a distance, so let's go see it close up.

Everyone must cross this long rope bridge to get there.  I'm guessing there is another way because I saw cars inside the village, but this seems to be the most popular entrance route.

Mari, Kerri, & Shimizu on the bridge.

All of the house are built with "gassho-zukuri"-styled roofs, which means "prayer hands construction". 

The roofs are thatched, steeply slanted, and look like 2 hands in prayer.  Since this one of the snowiest places in Japan, the design is effective for withstanding heavy snowfall.

Thatched roof made with only wood, straw, and roof. 

The village was really peaceful and beautiful. 

The atmosphere reminded me of Mackinaw Island, because it's this cute town just stuck in a simpler time. 

4 ladies enjoying the historical village.

  

Rice being harvested. 

I'm told this is the old-fashioned way where it is hung to dry. 

Today, usually machines are used to dry out the rice.

  

Many of the homes, including this one, are still lived in today.

We are ready to enter the largest house (now a museum of sorts) in the village. 

It's 5 stories and is called the "Nagase House".  We find this humorous because (our co-worker) Tag's last name is Nagase, so perhaps his ancestors used to live here!

The Nagase House was built in 1890, but in 2001 the roof had to be re-thatched. 

Look at all of the volunteers to re-do the roof!

Traditional Japanese house. 

The sliding glass doors on the left look outside, and the sliding partitions on the right are interior living rooms.  In the winter, hallways like this would (of course) have no heat, but the interior rooms would be heated by stove or fire, which is why the sliding partions are important.

1st floor was living quarters and all of the doorways are 5'8".

2nd floor was servants rooms, and the ceiling height was below my shoulder. 

The sign says that the ceiling is low, which forces the servants to constantly stoop and remember that they are "lower" than their masters.

3rd floor was much more spacious and was originally used for raising silkworms.

Remember I said only wood, straw, and rope were used to build these roofs? 

I found that to be impossible and completely puzzling, but I discovered the loophole.  They did use nails in the construction, but they were wooden nails!! 

 

Thatched roof from the inside.

4th floor is getting a little more scary.  This one is not solid, and doesn't even look safe to walk on.

In fact, they laid wooden walkways, so visitors to this historic house wouldn't crash through the floor.

5th floor was traditionally used for medicinal herbs, but it's unsafe these days and public access is denied.

 

Even the scarecrows in Japan like to give the peace sign!

We asked a random group of 6 older men to take this photo, and then one creeper of the group started taking pics of us with his own camera.  Geez...

Traditional mochi snacks on a stick. 

Chewy pressed rice flavored with soy sauce. 

Not really my favorite, so I let my co-workers enjoy them without me.

 

I do, however, love the Japanese straw hats. 

They are so fragile, but I would love to find a way to pack one in my suitcase without destroying!

KG with Sarubobo.

He is a traditional "monkey baby" and famous in Japan.  The red version is the original, but now they come in all colors and are very popular toys or trinkets or good luck charms.

Road Trip to Takayama

October is undoubtedly going to be a month full of goodbyes and farewell parties. 

Before my departure, the 3 ladies in my department at work wanted to take more on one last road trip to show me traditional Japan.  This weekend we took a 2.5 hour drive to Takayama "The Town That Time Forgot".

We left Nagoya bright and early in order to go shopping at the Jinya-mae Morning Market. 

Shimizu purchased some fresh pears.

There were all sorts of new regional seasonal fruits and vegetables that we've never even heard of before. 

I made the mistake of asking what was in these giant pods, and then of course, we had to taste for ourselves!

We never did get the name of this fruit, but it looks like a caterpillar inside a cocoon. 

You dig out the slimy seeds with your finger, put them in your mouth, and then swallow. 

We were under strict instructions not to "taste" it or bite into the black seeds. 

Surprisingly, it wasn't too bad. 

This old medicine woman said you eat them for good stomach health.  (In Japanese, of course!)

  

Check out the guys wading down the river doing a trash clean-up.  Now that is dedication.  I thought they were crazy for sweeping their public sidewalks each morning, but this is even more impressive!!

Statue on the Kajibasi Bridge.  One side has long arms...

...and the other side long legs.

We are heading to those white tents for more shopping.

Mari, Ema, and Kerri at the Miyagawa Morning Market.

This area is also called Hida and is known for their cows.

I ate the crazy new fruit, but I declined a bottle of fresh Hida milk.

Shimizu and Ema kept telling me it was "sweet and delicious", but I prefer my milk cold and refreshing.  When they were done chugging the milk, they returned the glass bottles, and I noticed the white chunky film coating the bottle.  This assured me that I made the right decision!!

KG browsing the market. 

We all know fruits and veggies aren't really my thing, especially not ones I can't easily recognize!!

Eventually we went shopping in real stores :)

Here's the historical streets of Takayama. 

As I mentioned, it's known as "The Town That Time Forgot" because it has remained largely unchanged from it's creation in the 16th century.  It's high in the mountains and is snowed in for much of the winter, so no ruling empires really bothered them for 500 years.

Even the vending machines are covered so they can blend in with the historical surroundings.

  

Takayama is also known for making sake (Japanese rice liquor). 

I look like a really enjoyed those jumbo bottles in this pic!

  

The grass balls hanging outside the shops indicate how fresh the sake is.  Bright green means a new batch has just been complete.  This ball is dried and brown, so I'm guessing it's been around for a while.

Mari, Kerri, & Ema in front of a shop with a huge brown grass ball.  Again, the sake is not so fresh today. 

Shimizu explains to KG how sake is made.

Thank goodness Hida area (Takayama) is known for beef, and not some kind of river fish. 

This means I get to have a yummy, meaty lunch!

The menu explains that all Hida beef can be traced back to this one cow "Yasufukugo". 

He was a prized bull that sired more than 27,000 calves. 

There is also a diagram of a numbered cow, so you can determine the area that your cut of meat is coming from.

Cuts of beef were priced as high as $250 on the menu, but we decided on the hamburg steak lunch set for $22.  It was moist and delicious!

Kerri, Shimizu, and Mari heading out of town via the Nakabasi Bridge. 

We have one more stop to make on our day of historical Japan fun!

Visit to the Farm

One more blog about vacation! 

Kelly & I took the girls to the nearby attraction "Weber's Farm" for fall fun! 

I should note that people in Parkville, MD go crazy for this place.  From the day Kelly and Mike first moved into their home, we've heard about the Farm again and again.  I guess Balto folks never grew up near the country like we did in Richmond.  People act as though pumpkin picking, fresh produce, a petting zoo, and a hayride are the most amazing things on earth.  Don't get me wrong... these things are all cool, but they are also all things I expect to see every autumn.  Not exactly ground-breaking and earth-shattering!

Kelly and the giant 2-kid stroller she pushed uphill most of the way to get here.

(BTW - the weather was steamy and hot, completely unlike autumn on this day.)

Cool gal Avery in her shades gives the camera a wave!

Rylan and Kerri do some "rubber duck racing" by using an old-fashioned water pump.

Rylan pets the sheep and goats. 

These were very friendly animals.  They were probably hoping we'd feed them some food!

4 gorgeous gals

Rylan would stop at nothing to get prime seating on the hayride. 

Here she is squirming away from Kelly and crawling under the gate even though we were supposed to be waiting patiently for the tractor driver.

We fed her a snack instead to keep her occupied!

Hayride Time!

Final stop was the best... we enjoyed apple cider slushies and yummy cinnamon sugar donuts! 

They were both delicious!