Toyama Gokayama Gassho Village

Where is Chubu Region (中部地方)? Chubu literally means “the central part” and as the name suggests it is located right in the middle of Japan’s main island.

Guess what? Even if you have not been there, chances are you have just completely sped through the whole region dozing off comfortably as the Nozomi shinkansen you were in whooshed from Tokyo Station to Shin-Osaka station. That’s right, Chubu is the area that many travellers often missed out as they shuttle between Kanto and Kansai but will make an absolutely wonderful odyssey if you are willing to spare some time exploring. read more

It’s Japan time again!

This time around I wanna bring you guys to Toyama, Nagano and Gifu area, on a self-drive trip.

We will be exploring these 3 prefectures by first flying into Toyama airport, rent a car and drive through the destinations. It will be a 5D4N trip of wonderful nature and rich culture in central Japan.

I could say that this is the highlight of my trip to Chubu-Hokuriku region in Japan. A registered world heritage site – Gokayama (五箇山).

When it comes to the Chubu region, the hottest tourist spot in recent years is perhaps Shirakawago (白川郷) in Gifu prefecture. When I first saw the travel itinerary, I was a little sad that Shirakawago was not included in this trip, but little did I know that we were in for a surprise, that is the same 250-year-old gassho-zukkuri farmhouses as the ones in Shirakawago, are also found in Ainokura (相倉) in Gokayama, Toyama prefecture. read more