Gokayama is a village within the city of Nanto in Toyama Prefecture. Its very traditional gassho-zukuri style homes make it a nearly unique site, and is regarded a UNESCO World Heritage Site, along with the village of Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture. The maintained existence of this traditional architecture is owed largely to the seclusion created by the village's location in the upper reaches of the Shōgawa river. This is also the reason that Gokayama's lifestyle and culture remained very traditional for many years after the majority of the country had modernized.
