Situated in the Southern area of Toyama Prefecture, Nanto is a lesser touristic place close to the center of Japan. Approximately 80% of the area is woodland, Nanto is blessed with an abundance of charming natural scenery & highly skilled carpenters. Nanto scenic remote mountainous area locate the Gokayama Gassho-zukuri villages, where houses are built with steep, thatched rafter roofs. Inami Town is home to the exceptional woodcarving skills producing three-dimensional works filled with life and movement.
INAMI WOODCARVING VILLAGE
Constructed around Zuisenji Temple 600 years ago, Inami is where 200 of Japan fnest carpenters reside. Roads line with all sort of interesting sites – temples, woodcarving workshops, traditional wooden toy shops, and lattice-door houses. Even local phone booths and bus stops feature the renowned woodcarvings. You might enjoy dressing in Japanese traditional kimono, strolling through the unique townscape and taking memorable photographs of Inami.
Embark on the Shogawa Gorge to admire the dazzling beauty of nature of Shogawa River and savor the flavor of local specialty food in traditional Japanese restaurant in Nanto Kimono Tour. Another exciting experience is carving guinomi sake cup, where you can follow an easy woodcarving plan, then take a stroll to a close sake brewery for freesampling sake in your newly carved cup. Joining in Inami carving course to unfold the history of Inami, from visiting ancient temples, wood carving studio to exploring Inami Carving & Sculpting Center.
GOKAYAMA HISTORICAL VILLAGE
The nature-rich area in the southernmost region of Toyama - Gokayama is home to 40 small villages. Among the villages, Ainokura and Suganuma were designated National Historical Landmark & included in the catalog of World Heritage Sites under the name of ‘Traditional Houses in the Gassho Style&;. Ainokura Village is largely made up of traditional gassho style houses, of which there are 20. Most were built between the closing years of the Edo period and the opening years of the Meiji period. Suganuma Village&;s traditional architecture is largely dominated by the traditional gassho style houses, of which there are 9. Of these, 2 were built towards the end of the Edo period (early to middle 19th century) and 6 were built during the Meiji Period.
Beside the scenic beauty of Gassho-zukuri, Gokayama Washi Paper is also designated as the national important traditional craft. Gokayama washi paper has been used for repairing important cultural properties of the Imperial Household Agency and many other things, including the shoji-paper of Katsura Rikyu. Made from mixture of Kozo (paper mulberry) fiber and Tororo Aoi (hollyhock), washi paper achieve excellent quality and wonderful durability. We can arrange you a Gokayama - Washi experience in a workshop in Nanto city so that you could learn more about the traditional handcraft.
_Tokyo_Japan.jpg)
