Visiting Shirakawa: Unswept Snows

“A proper, dense, snowfall creates an excellent, muffled peace of silence that’s hard for anywhere else to match.” – Old Sean

Snow Train

I originally went up to Toyama in the north of Japan to have easier access to the idyllic Japanese village of Shirakawa.

Shirakawa is a village with numerous structures designed in a distinct traditional fashion, with strong wooden walls spearing into a sharp angle. The upper portions are covered by a thick roof of layered straw which sheds heavy snowfalls.

I was fortunate to arrive during a warm snow day, when thick wet flakes sunk into the countryside, dusting rooftops and laying thick on unpassed ground. 

This was proper packing snow, the stuff snowmen are ideally made of.  Great clumps would gather on Shirakawa’s thick rooftops, rolling down in heaping snowballs as the day wore on. 

There was no wind, making walking through it a pleasant experience, and despite the snow sticking thickly on the ground, it melted from the heat of the earth.  Numerous streams and rivers were alive throughout the mountains, even as bare branches bent thickly under the weight of sticking snowflakes.

It was a gorgeous setting.

Tourist Amendments

Honestly though, I wish I hadn’t bothered.

Getting to Shirakawa is extremely expensive, no matter which route or service visitors take.  In the end, a two way bus ticket is eventually required, which usually runs about 4,600 yen total.  Taking a car is cheaper, but parking prices are fairly expensive as well.

The village, while gorgeous, has all the telltale signs of excessive tourism. 

There are warning signs against smoking in a wooden-and-straw village plastered everywhere.  Houses are usually shored up with sheet metal barriers to prevent voyeurs from peaking in.  Every building that allows public access comes with a fee.

300 yen to look inside, 600 yen for a coffee cup, 400 yen to climb a hill.

Worst of all were the hoards.  There are a lot of tourists here.  Normally, I would just walk to the more obscure or higher sections of a town and quickly escape the thralls as they marched around, jamming up roads with their selfie sticks.

But Shirakawa drops off roughly fifty people with every bus.  And they do so from two separate staging areas on opposite sides of the village.  The result is just… people everywhere.  It’s noisy, crowded and frankly disappointing.

My point being, Shirakawa is a beautiful area full of great points of interest.  But don’t bother, regardless of the season or beauty.  It’s just a really effective and oversaturated tourist trap.

Grumpy Musings

Sometimes I think I should be more tolerant of tourists, seeing as I am one.

But there’s a vanity in me and I like to consider myself a person apart.  I’m not going out looking for pre-packaged experiences. 

The idea of going to a place for the sake of a bragging-rights photo doesn’t appeal to me.  Trials, novelty unexpected life, adventure appeal enormously to me on my journeys.  Conveniences and crowds do not.

Perhaps I’m deluding myself.  Many of my travel experiences are simple to replicate, often just slightly inaccessible while the tourism industry catches up.  But damn, do I hate feeling like a simple, shuffling tourist crowding up a place for the sake of some selfies.

Shirakawa is beautiful.  And my presence among the area detracted from that beauty.

However, if a person is still interested in Shirakawa and what it has to offer, I recommend looking at Gokayama.  It’s less accessible, but also not a complete tourist trap while boasting all the same beautiful features.

A Return of Toyama

After visiting Shirakawa, I returned to Toyama to continue exploring the city.

I would be negligent in my writing if I didn’t mention Miss Jackie, who joined me for many of my wanderings through the city. 

She’s a family friend of my extended family and she shares roots from my birthplace in New Jersey. My aunt recommended I contact her while in Toyama.  She was a delightful travel companion and I have her to thank for my food choices during my stay.

Santoshi is a fabulous and very filing curry restaurant I highly recommend.  Likewise, I was introduced to a fantastic ramen restaurant which I can unfortunately not write here, as my computer struggles with Japanese characters and there’s no English equivalent I can find.

Overall, Toyama was a nice little side trip filled with a lot of recommendations from friends, followed by a brief tourism surge in Shirakawa.

Speaking of recommendations, I’m off to the southern portion of Japan, where hopefully the weather is slightly warmer and the sun rises without the impediment of clouds. 

Next, I’m going to the famed Naoshima, the art island based on a recommendation from an old friend from high school named Alysha.

So until then,

Best regards and excellent trails,

Old Sean

Written February 1st 2020

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