Shirakawa-go village, Gifu, Japan

Although there are some modern style buildings in the village, the traditional houses dominate. Not just in terms of pure numbers but because of their height and distinctive shape. The steep angles of the roofs are supposed to represent two hands clasped together in prayer. I wonder if the people who built the first house prayed that it would survive a winter.

It wasn’t just because of the weather conditions that these buildings ended up looking the way they do. It also has to do with the way their inhabitants made a living. Shirakawa-go is in a rather small valley with steep mountains in every direction. Traditional agriculture – things like rice or buckwheat – are hard to grow here. Residents were able to maintain small fields for their own food but not enough for trade. What they did have here, though, were mulberry trees, silkworms and nitre.