Located in a mountainous region that was cut off from the rest of the world for a long period of time, these villages with their Gassho-style houses subsisted on the cultivation of mulberry trees and ...

As of Friday morning, the snow depth in Okura village (Yamagata Prefecture) reached 1.99 meters. In Uonuma city (Niigata Prefecture), 1.94 meters of snow fell, while in the famous Shirakawa ...

Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture is one of Japan's snowiest regions. It's famous for its traditional thatched-roof Gassho-style homes. The triangular roofs distribute the weight of heavy snow ...

Around 150 villagers threw themselves into the effort. According to the Shirakawa village board of education, this was the first re-thatching in Shirakawa-go in five years.

A winter pressure pattern and cold air mass are bringing heavy snowfall along the Sea of Japan coast. More snow is forecast overnight and Friday. The Meteorological Agency says mountains along the ...