#Eda85daysinJapan | Chapter 4 (Hokuriku) | Day Trip – Gokayama, Shirakawa-go & Takayama

🗓️ 24 May 2026
📍 Gokayama, Shirakawa-go, Takayama

Since I didn’t drive for this trip, I made use of a lot of public transport, including this bus tour. Very easy to navigate, and worth the penny.

I took the one-day JR Bus from Kanazawa Station — Gokayama, Shirakawa-go and Takayama in one go. Leaves from the Kenrokuen gate around 9:10, back around 18:40.

Gokayama first. Very few tourists, probably much smaller. UNESCO gassho-zukuri houses — the steep thatched roofs shaped like hands pressed together in prayer, built for heavy snow. At the Murakami family house (around 350–400 years old) you sit around the irori, then they perform Kokiriko, said to be one of Japan’s oldest folk dances.

Shirakawa-go next. Quite crowded, and the area was bigger than I thought. I walked up to the highest point for the view — the Ogimachi Castle Ruins viewpoint looking over the whole village and the rice fields. Also managed to look at how modern farmers plant their rice — interesting to see the machinery work against those old thatched houses. Had Hida beef there too.

Then Takayama. My main goal was to exchange my JR Pass for Tateyama, haha. Yet to my surprise this little town did offer quite a bit to check out. Old merchant streets, free time from about 14:50 before the bus back.