Nagase House

Featured on Select Takayama Festival Japan Tours.

The Nagase House is one of many gassho-zukuri style huts in the Shirakawago Village in the remote mountains between Takayama and Kanazawa. The Gassho-zukuri style is a popular style of building thatched-roof housing, notable for the way it imitates the shape hands make when in prayer. Not only does gassho-zukuri keep the house warm, it can easily shed snow during the winter months and is done so without using any nails to hold the buildings together. The Nagase House is the largest house in Shirakawago, standing at a towering 5 stories with enough capacity to house 44 people. Each floor of the house was given a specific job, whether it was manufacturing silk, ropes, or clothes by hand. The Nagase family themselves were once the personal doctors to the Maeda Family during the Edo Period. The house includes a section that features the various medical instruments used during the era. The house itself has been passed down over the last 250 years, and some descendants still live in the house today.

As the largest house in Shirakawa-go village, the Nagase house is worth exploring during a vacation in Takayama. While the Nagase family once served as doctors, guests can now see the relics of the past at this home turned museum. The multi-floor building is considered a highlight when navigating the rustic village of Shirakawa-go. Come visit the Nagase House while we explore the wondrous Shirakawago Village during our line of Takayama Festival Japan Tours and Takayama Hidden Village Tours available Spring & Autumn!