Shirakawa-go is one of Japan’s small towns. Inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage list in 1995,

its farmhouses with Gassho-zukuri roofs “folded like hands in prayer”. Near the center of the village sits the Gassho-zukuri Minkaen - a museum dedicated to these time-honored buildings. The atmosphere of this mountain village bursts with traditional Japanese rustic charm in every eyeful and is equally lovely in every season; spring offers a canopy of cherry blossoms and summer covers the surrounding area in bright greens. Winters give Shirakawa-go an especial aura of drowsy peacefulness, when the thatched roofs are covered in a thick layer of snow