Ainokura Gassho-zukuri Village

Date Visited: 11/12/2023
Arrived in the morning and it was a lot less crowded than Shirakawago. The entrance fee is ¥500/car. There are a couple vantage points overlooking the village. You can easily spend an hour here.

Beauty and quiet village! Not touristy as it’s not convenient to stop by. You can visit the village by taking Kaetsuno bus and have a quick stop at Ainokura. There are coined locker at the bus stop (100 yen) so you can leave all your luggages at the bus stop to run for the village

Small and remote village. Better alternative for anyone who wants to visit Shirakawa-go but prefer more private experience. Not crowded

The best of the three Gasshou-Zukuri villages. A really lovely, quiet, place to explore the traditional houses, with nice fields of rice and some cute souvenirs too.

500 yen for parking. A really picturesque village that is inhabited, hence you will see all the creatures comfort outside of the old architecture ( has, weather heater, electricity lines etc) which is a great juxtaposition of living with current times. The previous emperor has stayed in this village before while on a holiday and I can understand why.

The lovely shrine is also worth a visit as it has really old cedars.

Do not miss walking up to the best viewpoint which is located beside the carpark before leaving (first photo)!

Really amazing place to visit. There are restrooms (toilets), and an information centre where you can rent boots and jackets if you don't have the right gear. It was snowing heavily when we visited in late December 2022 which added to the magic. The village closes to tourism at 5, but it was already dark before then.

Husband and I went there by bus (world heritage). It's probably better to go by car.
The village has 2 small shops, a few ryokans, and two small museums. You can also make your own washi paper (700yen).

Beautiful village and quite a unique experience to stay over. Very friendly owner and delicious dinner and breakfast.

Beautiful, traditional, thatched roof houses and buildings nestled into a valley surrounded by mountains.

Perfect for a little stop if you're driving through the area or take advantage of one of the guest houses and stay the night. Such a small village (with free wifi!) is made even more pleasant with so few people around.

We visited in winter and the snow covered roofs, fields and mountains were absolutely picturesque and peaceful with only the sounds of snow melt running down the mountains.

Stunning views! The drive through the area was absolutely beautiful with endless views of mountains and valleys. Seeing the historical village was also really interesting. So glad to see it is still being lived in and preserved. The tempura at the restaurant was delicious but took a while to prepare. Loved the mountain vegetables that they used!

Amazing place to explore, specially in Winter. Hiking on snow is unreal.

Beautiful scenic historical village ! Far less tourists than Shirakawago, so you can enjoy a quiet time here . Recommend to go for that washi ( Japanese paper ) making experience, interesting and enjoyable , no booking in advance is needed and it only takes you around 15 minutes making one .

Not as well known as shiratama, but also a nice village. It costs 1300 yen to come here from shiratama and the bus seldom comes.

Cute, quiet place in the mountains. We were there on a cloudy, rainy day and it was very nice. You can walk around in the village and see the thatched roof houses, have a tea in the shop/restaurant and take a lot of pictures. (remember to be respectful to the people who are living there!) You can get around in about 1.5-2hr, and maybe add a visit to the museum or the washi paper workshop.

The largest village in Gokayama with 23 traditional houses. It was a site to see and learned their amazing construction that can withstand some brutal winters.

350 years old UNESCO Heritage. Very nice winter scenery. We purchased the sightseeing bus from KLOOK. Exchange the voucher at the Nohi office counter.

Magnificent site! We first went to Shirakawago which is quite the same but a bit bigger and morz touristy. Ainokura can be reached with the World Heritage Bus and is much quieter than Shirakawago. We only saw a handful of tourists. Highly recommended. Do check the bus schedule because there are only a couple of buses a day.

A village with rich heritage. Ainokura is much smaller and less crowded than the popular Shirakawa-go. If you prefer less crowd, this is a good place to go in addition to Shirakawa-go. Its about 50 minutes bus ride from Ainokura to Shirakawa-go.These houses are really amazing to look at when up close. A must visit!!

Cute gassho village close to the famous Unesco heritage Shirakawago. It's smaller but quieter. There's a view point from a small hill and also a nice restaurant.

A lovely living village small in numbers but quaint and not so touristy.