We arrived in Kyoto just before noon, and with our bus leaving at 1:40, we had some time to kill. Lauren and I decided to split up for lunch, as she wanted to get sushi, and I was in the mood for ramen, as usual.
I found a ramen shop about 700 meters away that had good reviews from the locals, and served a tonkotsu style broth, so I headed that way, arriving about 8 minutes later. The staff welcomed me, but looked rather nervous since there was no English menu. Thankfully, Google translate came through as always, and a couple of minutes later I ordered some Tonkotsu ramen with extra chashu and an egg.
My ramen came out about five minutes later, and was absolutely delicious with a thick broth and tender chashu with deep pork flavor. I slurped down my bowl in about 15 minutes, and headed off to find our bus stop and wait for Lauren.
Lauren had found a nearby izakaya with a fish based menu, and ended up finishing around 1PM, so we met up and grabbed ticket reservations for our train the following day from Takayama to Nagoya, then waited at our bus stop until they boarded just before 2.
Our bus was packed with other tourists, with every seat sold. We all had to load our own baggage beneath the bus, and then take our seats before heading out. The bus ride to Shirakawa-go took about 2 hours, with most of this time being spent in the mountains ascending towards our destination.
For those who aren't aware, Shirakawa-go is a world heritage site, and is famous for its gassho-zukuri farmhouses, which are steep-sided multi-story farmhouses with a heavy duty thatched roof to survive the heavy winter snows. The name gassho-zukuri is from the way the houses look, and literally means "constructed like hands raised in prayer". These houses are original, and many are over 250 years old. The community of Shirakawa-go is nestled deep in a mountain valley that gets heavy snow in winter, and has cool summers. The locals have survived through a spirit of cooperation and helping one another known as Yui. To read more about the village, check out their website here.
Our bus arrived in Shirakawa-go around 3:20PM, and luckily, our ryokan Shiroyamakan was just across the street from the bus stop, so Lauren and I very quickly made our way over to drop off our bags. We were greeted by one of the owner's daughters, Nana-san, who explained that their hotel was a family business and had been passed down for 4 generations. We learned that the hotel is staffed entirely by the owner and his family, and is the original building, meaning it has not been extensively renovated to add modern amenities.The building is nestled next to the river from which Shirakawa-go draws its name, as the name literally means "village on the white river".
After dropping off our bags, Lauren and I decided to wait until 4PM when the owner would give his guests a driving tour of the town. When we boarded the van a few minutes later, Lauren ended up acting as translator for the owner, as he spoke only Japanese, though he did have a pre-recorded CD with some information in English. We met another couple on the van from Calgary, Alberta, and it was nice getting to know some fellow Canadians while abroad. Our tour went past most of the photogenic spots in town, including the most famous Gassho-zukuri, and concluded up above town at the viewpoint, where the owner got us in after closing due to his relationships. We all had the lookout to ourselves, and took a bunch of great photos before heading back.
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| Our tour, in progress |
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| The view from our room at Shiroyamakan |
Once we arrived back in town, Lauren and I paired up with Greg and Maggie (the Calgary couple) and walked along the very tiny main street of town, exploring shops, and ultimately stopping at a local store that offered a sake tasting. This was a very unique sake tasting, as all were made using local water and rice, and had a very unique flavor. While most sake is similar in flavor, all of these tasted more fermented and had a little more of a yogurt aftertaste, while the one I tried also had a tiny bit of carbonation. Strange, but surprisingly good!
Our walking tour ended after roughly 30 minutes, as there wasn't a great deal to see, so we headed back to Shiroyamakan to get unpacked and prepare for dinner at 6PM.
Dinner is served at the ryokan in a private dining room, and is prepared by the owner and his wife as well as their sons. The two daughers, Nana-san and her older sister Karin-san served us and were both incredibly charming and kind. We enjoyed a multi-course meal including sashimi, grilled fish, local vegetables, steak that we grilled at our table and rice. During the course of dinner, we had a fair bit of conversation with Nana and Karin, and they learned this was an anniversary trip.
Once dinner was over, we retired to our room and relaxed for a few minutes. Just after 8PM, our phone rang and Nana-san asked us if we could come to the front of the hotel and dress warmly, as they had a surprise for us.
When we got out front, Nana's dad was waiting with his van, and wanted to take us back to the viewpoint for a nighttime view of town. They wanted us to have a special memory of Shirakawa-go for our anniversary, and had arranged it so just the two of us would be driven up there.
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| Shirakawa-go by night |
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