Gokayama vs Shirakawa-go: Ainokura, Suganuma and Which to Visit

Head to head

The World Heritage property has three villages: Ogimachi in Shirakawa-go, and Ainokura and Suganuma in Gokayama. Ogimachi is the largest and busiest. Gokayama is smaller, with gassho houses, souvenir shops and cafes.

Gokayama is a collective name for about 70 settlements, and only Ainokura and Suganuma are on the World Heritage list. The table compares the two areas on access, cost, time, sights and crowds, from the village offices, Hokutetsu and the Toyama tourism board.

One listing, three villages

The villages lie in a river valley surrounded by the rugged high mountains of the Chubu region of central Japan, and they were remote and isolated for centuries. Ainokura was inscribed on the World Heritage List in December 1995, alongside the other two villages. The steep gassho roof has a slope of about 60 degrees, and re-roofing is done by the community working together, a shared labour called yui.

Why it works

Ainokura has 20 gassho-style houses known as minka, most 100 to 200 years old. Suganuma sits beside the Sho River and has nine gassho-style houses plus the Gokayama Folklore Museum and the Niter Museum. During the Edo period the local economy was based on Japanese paper, sericulture and saltpeter production for gunpowder, and that working history is still visible in the museums.

If your time is short, Shirakawa-go gives more per hour. If you have a full day, do both on a bus tour from Kanazawa or Takayama, such as the Shirakawa-go and Gokayama Bus Tour from Kanazawa at $94.78 per person.

What remoteness means for your trip

The isolation protected the villages, and it still shapes travel today. Hokutetsu runs some departures from Kanazawa to Suganuma from April through November only, at $13.90 (¥2,200) one way, with a seat reservation required on every highway bus. Driving via Gokayama IC on the Tokai-Hokuriku Highway is the flexible option.

Gokayama Taxi is the only taxi company in Gokayama and takes bookings by phone in Japanese only. A guided tour removes the guesswork, since transport between the villages is included.

Bus, car or tour

The table compares the ways into Gokayama by route and journey time, from the Toyama tourism board, Hokutetsu and the Gokayama tourist office. The World Heritage Bus also links Gokayama with Shirakawa-go, so check its timetable for the hop between Suganuma and Ainokura.

What to see

Ainokura has 20 gassho-style houses known as minka, most of them 100 to 200 years old, and the oldest is said to be some 400 years old. It was inscribed on the World Heritage List in December 1995. Walk the lanes between the houses, photograph the roofs from the edge of the village and stop at the small cafe and souvenir shops.

The Shirakawa-go and Gokayama Bus Tour from Kanazawa gives you 13:15-14:15 here, and the wood carving tour adds a paper-making workshop in the village.

Museums and river views

The hamlet is surrounded on three sides by the Sho River and has 12 houses, nine of them gassho-zukuri. It is home to the Gokayama Folklore Museum and the Niter Museum. Suganuma Gassho-Zukuri Village is open from April to November between 8:00 and 17:00, and from December to March between 9:00 and 17:00.

Where to eat in Suganuma

Gorobei is a family-run restaurant in a 170-year-old gassho home serving a Gokayama Tofu Set and the Gorobei Gozen with salt-grilled iwana char. It opens 10:00-17:00 and closes irregularly. Sabo Tenohira is a father-daughter cafe open 10:00-17:00, until 16:00 in winter, and closed on Mondays, Tuesdays and some Thursdays, so plan your food stop around those hours.

Culture, craft and food

A sasara-making workshop for the Kokiriko folk dance is held in Kaminashi village. The Gokayama tourist office promotes regular performances of Kokiriko, described as one of the oldest Japanese folk songs, so time your visit if a performance is on. Add a meal at Gorobei and coffee at Sabo Tenohira in Suganuma.

Combine it with Shirakawa-go on a guided day, such as the Shirakawa-go, Gokayama and Wood Carving Tour from Kanazawa at $177 per person, which includes a paper-making workshop in Gokayama and is rated 4.9 from 243 reviews. There is no paper-making on that tour from 27 December to 3 January.

Snow, hours and access

Suganuma Gassho-Zukuri Village opens at 9:00 from December to March, one hour later than the rest of the year, and closes at 17:00. Sabo Tenohira cafe closes at 16:00 in winter. Some Hokutetsu departures from Kanazawa to Suganuma run only from April through November, so in winter check the timetable before you travel, or drive via Gokayama IC with studless tyres or chains, since snow falls from late December to early March.

A guided tour is the simplest winter option because transport is arranged. On the Shirakawa-go and Gokayama Bus Tour from Kanazawa, the roadside stop Michi no Eki Shirakawa-go closes from 29 December to 1 January and the tour stops at Jottekale Castleside in Toyama instead.

Sleeping in a gassho house

Visit Toyama highlights Gassho Nakaya Inn, a gassho-style stay in the area, for a night in a historic house. Contact the inn directly for rates and bathing. An overnight stay pairs well with a morning in Ainokura before the tour buses arrive.

If you prefer a single day, the JTB Shirakawa-go and Takayama Tour from Kanazawa runs 8-10 hours and covers Shirakawa-go and Takayama, not Gokayama, so pick a Gokayama tour if Ainokura matters to you.

Pick by traveller type

The table matches each kind of traveller to the village or tour that fits, from the village descriptions above and the tour listings on this site.