Shirakawa-go is a World Heritage Site in the Gifu mountains, notable for its gassho-zukuri (prayer-hands) housing, so-called because the tall roofs resemble hands at prayer. The architecture developed because of the heavy snowfalls, which could crush normal roofs and which led to winter isolation from the outside world. Within the tall, protective roofs there developed a unique culture based on extended families, with silkworm cultivation on the upper storeys and the making of gunpowder. The area developed its own folksong and dance too.
