APR 23, Japan visit: Shirakawa-go, remote alpine village

 Shirakawa-go, a village in the Japanese Alps offers a view of life in a remote village. Historic post-and-beam wooden houses with thick thatch roofs inhabited by locals with a deep preservation ethic make this a World Heritage site.

Tourist buses navigate the awe-inspiring roads from either Kanazawa (our second city in Japan, earlier on the tour), or from Takayama. Trips from the latter destination traverse the Hida tunnel; at 11 km (7 miles), it's the nation's second longest.

they drive on the left, remember?

 

upstream: even in late April, lots of snow on the peaks

view downstream from the bus-station

TODAY'S POEM (senryu  *) 

Shirakawago, late April view

sakura awaits --

at higher elevations

blossoms are delayed.

 

Giorgio Coniglio

* learn more HERE about senryu, a lesser-known Japanese short poetic form that shares certain physical characteristics of haiku (nominally 17 'on' / syllables in three non-rhyming lines), but deals in a satiric or humorous way with human foibles rather than with Nature.  

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