Shirakawago 2019: Ogimachi Village (荻町) Pt 3

Before leaving Ogimachi I crossed the river that runs along the west end of the village and went over to the Gassho-zukuri Minkaen. This is an open-air museum that features farmhouses and other buildings that have been transplanted to Ogimachi for preservation.

I only had about 20 minutes before my bus was scheduled to depart, so I had to move quickly through Gassho-zukuri Minkaen but one of the skills I’ve developed during my travels overseas is exploring and taking photos in a hurry. A lot of what’s in the museum is similar to what you see in the main part of Ogimachi so I would classify it as a bonus item to add to your itinerary if you’ve got some spare time after wandering around the village. One of the farmhouses in the museum has some interesting old photos of what Ogimachi used to look like. I saw as much of the museum as possible and then I jogged back to the parking lot where my bus was waiting to take my tour group back to Takayama. My trip to the Gokayama and Shirakawago regions of Japan had been a productive, albeit hurried, experience and at some point in the future I’m hoping to go back again.