Suspension bridge in Ogimachi, Shirakawa-go region, Ono District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Suspension bridge. Ogimachi is the largest village and main attraction of the Shirakawa-go region, in Ono District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Ogimachi village hosts several dozen well preserved gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some more than 250 years old. Their thick roofs, made without nails, are designed withstand harsh, snowy winters and to protect a large attic space that was formerly used to cultivate silkworms. Many of the farmhouses are now restaurants, museums or minshuku lodging. Some farmhouses from surrounding villages have been relocated to the peaceful Gassho-zukuri Minka-en Outdoor Museum, across the river from the town center. Gassho-zukuri means "constructed like hands in prayer", as the farmhouses' steep thatched roofs resemble the hands of Buddhist monks pressed together in prayer.

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Filename: 1810JPN-2204.jpg
Copyright: © Tom Dempsey / PhotoSeek.com
Image Size: 5472x3648 / 6.9MB; http://www.photoseek.com/; Honshu Japan history past
Contained in galleries: 2018 Oct 10-Nov8: JAPAN all, Japan Alps: Shirakawago, Ogimachi, Takayama

Suspension bridge. Ogimachi is the largest village and main attraction of the Shirakawa-go region, in Ono District, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. Declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995, Ogimachi village hosts several dozen well preserved gassho-zukuri farmhouses, some more than 250 years old. Their thick roofs, made without nails, are designed withstand harsh, snowy winters and to protect a large attic space that was formerly used to cultivate silkworms. Many of the farmhouses are now restaurants, museums or minshuku lodging. Some farmhouses from surrounding villages have been relocated to the peaceful Gassho-zukuri Minka-en Outdoor Museum, across the river from the town center. Gassho-zukuri means "constructed like hands in prayer", as the farmhouses' steep thatched roofs resemble the hands of Buddhist monks pressed together in prayer.