Ainokura Gassho-style Village

Ainokura is a village of gassho-style houses in the Gokayama area of Nanto, Toyama, where about 80 people still live. Twenty gassho-style houses stand on its terraces. With Suganuma and Ogimachi in Shirakawa-go, it was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.

History

Most of the houses were built between the late Edo period and the Meiji era; the oldest is thought to date back to the 17th century. The villagers lived by making saltpeter, washi paper and silk, and grew their own food by slash-and-burn farming. Ainokura was designated a national Historic Site on 4 December 1970, covering 42 hectares, and was selected as an Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in 1994.

Highlights

The thatched gassho-zukuri (合掌造り) roofs rise at a pitch of nearly 60 degrees. The village keeps a primitive gassho house, the original form of the style in Gokayama. Several houses are open to visitors: the Ainokura Traditional Industry Museum covers saltpeter, sericulture and washi, Yusuke shows the inside of a roof, and the Gokayama washi hall holds papermaking sessions. The Ainokura Folk Museum is closed for the time being.