飛騨の里　　　 back to homepage

　　　　　　　　HIDA FOLK VILLLAGE          1998,June 26
Yesterday, Today and Tommorow
飛騨の暮らしぶりを今もつたており、重要国指定文化財の合掌家屋を移築し、里の風景が昔を思い出させてくれる。ここには日本の伝統文化がいまなお生きている。都会の雑踏を忘れさせてくれます。質素で素朴なむかしの生活がまた新鮮味を帯びて目の前に再現してくれます。
During our people's long history, their lifestyles have greatly changes, especially during the two years of 1959 and 1060 at the time of the appearnace of television sets,washine machines and refrigerators which were called "Three miracle apparatuses".Television sets shortened the distance between urban areas and the countryside and made it possible for people to set many kinds of information happenings in Japan the same day washing machines decreased women's daily labor, and in addition we began to produce thinner clothing so that, we could wash it in the washing machines Thanks to the improvement of house heating, we can spend winter more confortably in thinner clothing. Refrigerators changed our taste for food and beverage as well as prolonging their quality.
As a result of these trends people the countryside left their towns or villages and moved to cities.At that time several house dams for hydoeletric generation were built and
villages were sacrificed and many houses were sunk into the deep water, some　specific houses such as Gassho Zukuri in Shirakawa village were moved nad　rebuilt in other regious Takayama city emphasized the importance of preservations these old houses and we first moved this Wakayama's house here which is the orgin ofthe Hida Folk Village.
Then we moved and rebuilt Nokubi 's hosue which was believed to be one of　he oldest houses in the central Hida region by doing research on these houses, we found that houses located near different regional boaders interacted　with each other, and tradional anual events and customs had been handed down in the central Hida region.
Even in the Hida region, one can see diversity in its culture, and we thought it was importanct to gather old houses of the Hida region in one place as an open-air museum in order to preserve these cultures.
Now we are trying to make these museum more vivid by growing rice and vebetables and showin local folkcrafts and traditional anual events to visitors.　(Extracted from the sign
board at the village.June 26,1998)