Gokayama

Gokayama is located in the southwestern part of Toyama Prefecture, its unique Gassho-style (Gassho-zukuri 合掌造り) houses among 40 villages are well-known in the world. In 1995, the traditional Japanese Gassho-style villages were inscribed in the World Heritage List, including Suganuma Gassho-style Village and Ainokura Gassho-style Village in Gokayama.

Suganuma Gassho-Style Village

The Suganuma Gassho-Style Village (菅沼合掌造り集落) is located by the Gokayama Sho River. The village is surrounded by mountains with gorgeous sceneries. The nine houses of Gassho-style were built from the Edo to the Showa periods and have a history of more than 100 years. Two Gassho-Style houses here are converted into the Gokayama Folk Museum and the Niter Museum, which exhibit the life of the Gokayama people and the niter industry as their livelihood.

Suganuma Gassho Style Village

Picturesque World Heritage Village

The Suganuma Gassho Style Village, located on the south bank of the Shokawa River in Gokayama, is a World Heritage Site. Two of nine Edo to Showa Gassho-zukuri houses have been converted into the Gokayama Folk Museum and the Niter Museum, which showcases the techniques of saltpeter production.

Suganuma Village - Gokayama Folk Museum

How Village life used to be

The Gokayama Folk Museum is a renovation of a large Gassho-zukuri house in the Suganuma Gassho Style Village. It is a collection of more than 200 tools and precious instruments used by the local people, which reflect the life of the village in the past.

Suganuma Village - Niter Museum

Important Gunpowder Ingredient

Niter, or Saltpeter, was an important raw material for the production of gunpowder, and for centuries the people of Gokayama made saltpeter as their main source of livelihood. The Niter Museum is housed in a Suganuma Gassho-zukuri house, and shows the production process of saltpeter with the exhibition of models, tools, and materials.