Ogimachi is the largest of the gassho villages and the one most people picture when they think of Shirakawa-go, a cluster of steep thatched farmhouses in a valley of the Sho river in Gifu prefecture. Some sixty houses survive here, dark with age, their roofs angled at about sixty degrees so that deep snow slides off. Families once lived on the ground floor, kept silkworms in the attic spaces, and shared the work of rethatching in a communal effort called yui, in which the whole village turned out to rebuild a roof in a day or two. The practice carries on in a smaller form, and a roof is replaced every few decades. The village shares its UNESCO listing with Gokayama, 1995.
Getting here from Kanazawa is a fine day out. The Tokai-Hokuriku Expressway runs most of the way through long tunnels, though the older Route 156 follows the river and is more fun, a steady two-lane road beside deep green water, with big cedars and little villages. The curves are easy and the road is rarely busy outside holiday weekends. Be aware that Shirakawa-go's peak days, in autumn and in the winter illumination season, see long traffic queues, and the parking fields fill. Early morning is far better.
The village is best on foot. Wooden walkways follow irrigation channels past rice paddies, small shrines and one or two houses with open interiors, where you can climb narrow ladder stairs and see the bare roof beams lashed with rope. Wada House is the biggest of those open to the public. For a wider view, a viewpoint above the village gives the classic panorama over roofs and fields. In winter the whole scene is under heavy snow, with a pink glow at dawn, but the roads need chains or a car, and this is not a motorcycle season.
Fuel is best taken before you reach the valley, since there are very few stations along Route 156. Takayama, thirty-four kilometres south, has everything, including excellent beef and sake brewed in old merchant houses. The village sells hot soba and river fish, and a freshly made rice cracker costs very little. Rain brings out the colour in the thatch, so a showery day is not the disaster it seems.