Seeing Gassho-styled houses in 10 minutes from Takayama station. The Hida Folk Village is a nice place to learn about the living of traditional Japanese farmers, and take a close at the famous Gassho-styled houses which are built with steep-sloped thatched roofs with no nails and metal yet could withstand extreme heavy snow falls.
I am not a fan of folk villages because most of them are just a few artificial buildings with some folk dance performances and they are often packed with tour groups. To my pleasant surprise, this Hida no Sato (Hida Folk Village) is a well designed, spacious and beautiful in the winter. More importantly, not crowded at all in a Sunday afternoon.
There are about 30 traditional Japan farm houses moved from other places to form this open-air museum. Some are Gassho-styled farmhouses. As compared to Shirakawa-go, this is not a living village yet give you a good chance to take a close look a the old farm houses.
Simply take a bus from Takayama Station, it takes only 10 minutes to get to the destination. Just follow the sign to go up a little slope to the entrance. There is a small entrance fee. 在高山站乘坐巴士十分鐘就到達，沿指示上一個小斜坡就到門口買票入場。The first photo spot is a set up of a big Hida with the village in the backdrop. it looks very nice in the winter. 入場後第一個大景點是飛驒和合掌屋背景。冬天的景色很美。The frozen lake and with snowy village is beautiful. Nice and quiet when there aren’t that many tourists. 結了冰的湖加上鋪滿白雪的合掌屋就像風景畫一樣。環境優雅寧靜。重點是沒有很多遊客。The farm houses were built during the Edo Period (1603 – 1867) and were relocated from their original locations to create this open-air museum. 飛驒之里的房子都是江戶時代 (1603 – 1867) 建造的舊農舍，是從其他地方包括合掌村遷移過來保存，讓遊客參觀的歷史村落。我覺得這個文化村做得很好，沿山而建很像真的村落。
Hida Folk Village consists of some 30 traditional houses from Hida and Gifu regions. There is a map everywhere. 飛驒之里有約30間保存得很好的飛驒高山及岐阜縣傳統房子。到處都有路牌，不會迷路。A few houses are the Gassho-styled farm houses which adopted the steep-sloped thatched roof. You may study the style and history of these houses. Some are open but remember to take off your shoes when you walk into the house as instructed. 這裏有幾間舊房子是合掌村，有些是開放的，可以慢慢參觀。請謹記按照指示，入內參觀通常要脫鞋，保持環境清潔。The roof of these farm houses are the most interesting. You may see how they were put together without the use of metal and nails. 舊村屋最特別是它們的屋頂結構，沒有使用一根鐵釘，卻可以抵擋風雪。The interesting thing about this Hida Folk Village is that you are free to walk around and most houses are open that you may walk inside. 飛驒之里的優點是你何以自由地隨處看，大部份的房子都開放，可以走進去看。The houses are well maintained with some old furnitures and utensils in display. Remember to take off your shoes as instructed. 村內的房子保持原好，很多都有一些舊傢俱和用具器皿展示。請謹記跟指示脫鞋。Almost all the farm houses has a burner in the middle of the house. It is the place for cooking / boiling water so that the family can gather together to stay warm. 差不多每個舊房子都有一個這樣的爐在大廳中間位置，是一家人煮飯／燒水及取暖的地方。Some have a set of buddha cabinet in the house. 有些房子有座大神櫃。Some of the farm houses are very basic with old photos, and raincoats made of straw. 有些房子是比較平民的農舍，有舊生活照片、蓑衣和農村用品，生活簡單。The former Tanaka’s house. There are introduction of each farm house in English and Japanese. It’s a self-guiding tour. 舊田中家。每間農舍都有日文和英文介紹，邊行邊讀介紹便可。The former Tomita’s house. 舊富田家。The Rukujizo which are very common buddha statues on the roadside you see in Japan. 六地藏是日本路邊很常見的菩薩。The former Nakayabu’s house. 舊中藪家
Tatsuho shrine and theatre. It is a place where the farmers gathered together and watched performances at night. 立保神社擇殿。舞台。以前的村落都會有些村民聚會的地方，晚上一起看戲。The torii to the Carpentry Shrine and the Jizodo temple. A lot of steep slopes and stairs are closed in the winter. 匠神社和地藏堂的天門。冬天下雪地滑，很多斜坡和樓梯都關閉。Logging was one of the industries in the mountain area. Related businesses such as charcoals and wood-carving were also featured in the village. 伐木業是當年山區的工業之一，這裏也可以看到伐木材及其他相關工業，包括燒煤炭及木雕工藝。The slopes of the roofs of Gassho-styled houses varied depending on the amount of snow in the area. Some are sleeper than the others to withstand the weight of snow. 合掌屋的屋頂斜度會因地理不同而有差別，有些地方下雪量比較多的斜度會比較高，以防房子被雪壓倒。A small wood-cutter cabin in which 6 workers lived and worked. Really? It’s really packed then. 這小屋是當年木工工作及居住的地方，可住6人。會太擠逼吧！
With hilly slopes and a small lake in the middle, the overall environment of this folk village is very nice. I don’t understand why this place is never probably introduced in any travel guide books nor online. Having said that, I haven’t seen any nice winter photos. Seeing is believing. You have to come and see it yourself. 這裏地形沿山，中間一個小湖，整個環境都很舒服，可惜其他旅遊書和網站都沒有仔細介紹。不過我也沒有看過冬天的照片，要親身來到感受和看到才是真實的。It was a Sunday afternoon, there were very few tourists. Nice and quiet. 一個星期日下午，只有幾個遊客，十分寧靜。可以沒有壓力地慢慢走，很寫意。There is a souvenir shop right by the bus stop where you can do some shopping before you head back. 巴士站旁邊有一間紀念品店，可以買些手信回家，這裏什麼都有。
Personally, I think that these Hida dolls are cute. 我覺得這些農村飛驒玩偶很可愛。The golden color Hida is for bring wealth and fortune. 要開運的，金色增財運。For display, these gassho-styled mini-houses are great souvenirs. While you may find these souvenirs everywhere, they are pretty much the same price. So it doesn’t matter where you buy them. When you see something you like, just buy them while you are there. 擺設的話小合掌屋不錯。當然你會到處都看見這些紀念品，在日本，很多地方的價格都差不多，甚至一樣，所以去旅遊時，看到喜歡買下來就是。
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