Nanto is a city located in the southwest of Toyama Prefecture. The natural scenery of old Japan is seen in the two World Heritage Gassho-zukuri [style] villages, Ainokura and Suganuma in Gokayama, is known along with the Shirakawa-go of Gifu Prefecture. The “Johana Hikiyama Festival”, a 300-year tradition practiced in the Johana area, is registered as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. Nanto is a city rich in both history and culture.

by Train

-From JR Tokyo Station: Take the Hokuriku Shinkansen (Bullet Train) to Shin-Takaoka Station (Duration: about 3 hours)
-From JR Nagoya Station: Take the Shirasagi Limited Express Train to Shin-Takaoka Station (Duration: about 3 hours and 7 minutes, may require transfer to JR Hokuriku Shinkansen [Bullet Train] at JR Kanazawa Station)
-From JR Osaka Station: Take the Thunderbird Limited Express Train to Shin-Takaoka Station. (Duration: about 2 hours and 43 minutes, may require transfer to JR Hokuriku Shinkansen [Bullet Train] at JR Kanazawa Station

From JR Shin-Takaoka Station: Take the World Heritage Bus to Ainokuraguchi Bus Stop or Suganuma Bus Stop

Points of Interest

Undeniably, the most widely acclaimed tourist spot in Nanto is the World Heritage Site - Gokayama. Gokayama stands for all 40 villages of the area, with Ainokura Village and Suganuma Village registered as World Heritage Sites. The gassho-style houses, also only found in Shirakawa-go, Gokayama, as well as the surrounding areas, offer an intriguing sense of history and tradition.

Gokayama / 五箇山 (Toyama)

• Nanto
• Toyama
• Onsen
• Cultural Experience
• World Heritage
• Historical Sites
• Beautiful Places

Gokayama is a region of forty small villages nestled in abundant nature in Nanto City, Toyama Prefecture, famous for its houses built in the gassho-style, which represent Japan's wooden culture. In 19...

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