Mt. Hakusan and Gassho Style Houses

Mt. Hakusan and Gassho Style Houses

　The presence of Mt. Hakusan played a major role in the emergence of gassho style houses in Shirakawa-go. The formation of this architectural style was primarily influenced by the following two factors created by Mt. Hakusan:

1.Mountainous Terrain with Limited Flat Land

　Beginning around 400,000 years ago, volcanic activity of Mt. Hakusan caused significant uplift in the region, leaving Shirakawa-go as a mountainous area with very little flat land. With limited farmland available, the people of Shirakawa turned to sericulture as their primary livelihood, engaging in commercial production that made effective use of mountainous terrain.

2.One of the World’s Heaviest Snowfall Regions

　In winter, Mt. Hakusan blocks the northwesterly seasonal winds laden with moisture from the Sea of Japan, causing heavy snowfall at its foothills. As a result, Shirakawa-go, situated at the base of Mt. Hakusan, became one of the snowiest regions in the world at such a low latitude.

　Thus, the severe natural environment of a mountainous heavy-snowfall region was shaped by Mt. Hakusan. The most distinctive feature of gassho style houses—the steeply pitched gabled roof—was developed to use the attic as a space for raising silkworms. The decision to utilize the attic rather than constructing separate buildings was strongly influenced by the scarcity of flat land, which made it undesirable to sacrifice valuable farmland for additional structures, as well as by the practical need to avoid increasing the number of buildings requiring snow removal during winter.
　Here, we take a closer look at Mt. Hakusan, the mountain that gave rise to gassho style architecture.

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