High in the Japanese Alps and surrounded by lush greenery and snowy peaks, Gokayama is one of Japan’s most jaw-dropping cultural sights. A Unesco World Heritage Site, Gokayama is known not only for its surroundings but for its carefully-preserved thatched-roof farmhouses.
And now, excitingly, you can stay in a traditional Gokayama farmhouse on Airbnb. The stay will take place in the nine-home village of Suganuma, marking the first time in decades that the village has opened up to overnight guests. Guests will experience living in one of these dwellings, which are part of an architectural style called ‘gassho-zukuri’ that dates back hundreds of years.
The experience doesn’t stop at simply staying in Suganuma, either. Over two nights, guests will also enjoy a traditional welcome with a tea ceremony, as well as participate in a crafts workshop and see some live Japanese folk music.
Here are a few pictures of the Airbnb in Suganuma village.
There are, however, a couple of complications. On the upside, all this is totally free. On the downside, it’s a one-off. Guests can request to book the Suganama on June 30 at 9am JST (1am BST – set your alarm!), with the experience taking place on July 17-19. In other words, it’s effectively only really open to people who are either in Japan or have a trip booked for those dates.
But if you still fancy visiting a ‘gassho-zukuri’ farmhouse, don’t fret. This certainly isn’t the first or only time that one of the dwellings has opened up to guests. They’re dotted throughout both Gokayama (which has about 40 villages) and Shirakawa-go, which together make up the Unesco World Heritage Site. And there are plenty of other villages that offer traditional ryokan-style stays in ‘gassho-zukuri’ farmhouses.
If you’d like to request to book the Sugunama farmhouse, you can do so on the official link here.
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