It’s time to go even deeper in the mountains to reach the Japanese Alps and the village I wanted to see for so long: Shirakawa-gō.
Shirakawa-gō & Gokayama
Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama are groups of traditional villages located in the mountains.
They are only accessibles by car and I got amazing view at river dam and waterfalls during the journey there.
These villages belonged to the UNESCO Heritage sites thanks to theirs houses with thatched roofs.
I visited Ogimachi, the most famous one, and Ainokura, a more secrete one.
Ainokura point of view
It felt really bucolic to walk in theses villages, and I could even visit some of the houses.
Ainokura is my favourite place I visited so far.
This village is still inhabited, and it is lost into steep mountains and rice fields.
It also rained a lot during my time here, and
the clouds crawling on the mountains around make the scenery really eerie.
Ainokura in the fog
Washi Paper
Several industries flourished in the area, like the making of Washi paper, powder gun and silk for kimonos.
Nowadays, in the village of Ainokura, there is still a Washi paper maker and he showed me his process.
Washi is a white paper used for calligraphy, in between ordinary paper and tissue. It come from vegetal fibre, like paper mulberry.
A preparation of boiled mulberry, water and a gelatinous element is mixed, then the paper maker put a screen inside the preparation to create a fine layer on top.
Screen in the washi mix
The layer is put on a table, and a second layer is added above it.
Water is blown away with a blower and finally, the paper is dried on a hot surface.
I bought several pieces of Washi to make Watercolor experiments.
The feeling is really different than regular paper, water diffuses a lot in the fiber, making it hard to have precision.
More practice is needed!
Layer being deposed on the table
Kanazawa
It was then the time to return to a bigger town and visit the capital city of the prefecture Ishikawa: Kanazawa.
The city is well known for it’s beautiful garden, Kenrokuen, one of the most beautiful one in Japan, and the multiples traditional neighbourhoods it contains.
The most impressive one is Higachi Chaya, with several streets with preserved tea houses.
The houses are usually in a vermillion tint, with wood panel in front.
A corner in one of the districts
I drank a matcha in one of the preserved tea house, listened to shamisen music, smelt the encens, felt the tatamis under my feet, it couldn’t conclude the day any better.
I stayed quite a long time in Kanazawa to have a break in my journey, taking the time to rest and paint some postcards.
I am now leaving the mountains to return to a more touristic place, Kyōto. Just in time to see one of its biggest festival … more next week!