Shirakawa-go · Shirakawa-go

Wada House

Wada House is the largest gassho house left in Shirakawa village, according to the village itself: 14 by 7 ken, about 25 by 13 meters. According to the village it has stood for about 300 years, and the family still lives in it today. It is registered as a national Important Cultural Property.

In the Edo period the Wada family were village heads and checkpoint officials, and according to the documents they left they also traded in material for gunpowder and in raw silk thread, the two largest sources of income in the region.

Part of the first floor and the second floor are open to visitors, with objects and tools the family used over the generations. The explanations on the first floor are in Japanese and on the second floor in English, and there is a QR code tour. Silkworms were raised in the attics of gassho houses, and at Wada House they are still raised today, in July and August.

Good to know

The shuttle to Shiroyama Viewpoint leaves from near the house, every 20 minutes from 09:00 (¥300, cash). If you start the morning at the viewpoint, you come back down right here.
Photograph the house from outside, and from above too: from the viewpoint you see it in the middle of the village, facing the mountain ridge.

What is nearby

Approximate walking minutes from the entrance of Wada House.

Here
Wada House
~2 min
Hakusuien Food
A large restaurant with 100 seats near the bus terminal: Hida beef, Yui pork, ayu fish and soba. Credit cards accepted.
Maps Source
~3 min
Irori Restaurant, Shirakawa-go Food
A restaurant in a gassho house, a minute from the bus terminal: Hida beef with miso on a magnolia leaf, grilled tofu, soba and udon with mountain vegetables. According to the tourism association there is also a vegetarian menu.
10:00-14:00, closing days vary, check the websiteMaps Source
~3 min
Memenko Shopping
A souvenir shop on the main street. Its signature product is kintsuba (a red bean cake) flavored with doburoku, the village's cloudy rice sake, and there is also doburoku yokan and pickled red turnip. Cash only.
Maps Source
~3 min
Shirakawago no Yu More to see
The only hot spring inside the village, according to the place itself, with an open-air bath facing the river and a dry sauna. ¥900, children ¥500, towel ¥200. According to the onsen's website it is closed every Thursday and on the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, and the tourism association shows different hours, so call ahead.
¥900 · ≈ $607:00-21:00, last entry 20:00Maps Source
~7 min
Kissa Ochiudo Cafe
13 seats. You pick a cup from the cups hanging on the wall, and the best-known items are zenzai (a sweet red bean soup) and curry with five-grain rice. Cash only.
11:30-16:00, closing days varyMaps Source
~8 min
Shirakawa-go Purin no Ie Cafe
A pudding shop run by a family that has lived in the village for generations. The best-known items are 'mizu purin' and goheimochi-flavored pudding, and there is also soft serve. In October 2026 it is closed every Wednesday and also on 15 October, because of the village festivals.
10:00-16:30, closed on WednesdayMaps Source
~15 min
Masuen Bunsuke Food
A river fish restaurant in a gassho house, on the road up to the viewpoint, which raises its own iwana, amago and trout in spring water. After 15:00 by reservation only.
11:00-21:00, closing days varyMaps Source

More in Shirakawa-go

Appears in: Shirakawa-go: the thatched village in the valley, from the morning viewpoint to the Wada House

Full page for Wada House