Six Wonders of Japan’s Winter Scenery – Pure White Beauty, Pure Romance

Text / Compiled and Reported by the Editorial Department of MOOK Travel Life Network

Every winter, Japan is blanketed in pristine white snow, layering across the land with accumulations sometimes reaching several meters deep. Majestic mountaintops, rolling mountain ranges, and rooftops are all covered in thick snow, creating a pure, mysterious world devoid of signs of life, as if time has frozen, exuding a serene beauty.

Snowy Fairy-Tale Town – Shirakawa-go Gassho Village
Have you ever truly seen the sight of snow covering thatched gabled wooden houses, like something out of a fairy tale? This is the legendary, isolated — Shirakawa-go Gassho Village. Nestled among mountains, crisscrossed with rice fields, and traversed by rivers, this quiet mountain village is dotted with over a hundred thatched gabled folk houses, radiating captivating charm. In 1996, UNESCO designated the Shirakawa-go Ogimachi Gassho Settlement and the nearby Mount Hakusan as World Heritage Sites.

Located in Gifu Prefecture, bordering Toyama and Ishikawa Prefectures, Shirakawa-go has a population of only about 1,900 people. Its gassho-style buildings are concentrated in Ogimachi. Standing atop the vantage point of Mt. Shiroyama (Ogimachi Castle Ruins) and looking down, over a hundred thatched-roof gassho-style houses dot the landscape, like a scene from a fairy tale.

Snowy Wetland – The God of Kushiro Wetland

Kushiro in Hokkaido is home to Japan’s largest wetland national park, the birthplace of the country’s national treasure, the red-crowned crane, and also attracts many visitors due to various winter-exclusive activities. Visiting Kushiro in the depths of winter allows you to take the limited-time Winter Wetland Steam Train from late January to March each year, and admire animals such as red-crowned cranes and Ezo deer alongside the wonders of the winter wetlands.