A picturesque thatched houses hamlet, Kita-mura, Kyoto Pref.

Miyama-cho is nested in “Kyoto’s roof”, the Kitayama Mountains of northern Kyoto Prefecture.  Along the Yura River, there are several villages with traditional Kayabuki-yane (thatched-roof) farmhouses.



Kitamura Village with the mist-hung mountains of Kitayama cedars and deciduous trees
under the overcast sky

Kita-mura is one of those villages, a small hamlet, with cluster of some 50 farmhouses including 38 thatched-roof houses and a population of about 100.  The village was designated as an Important Traditional Architectural Preservation Area (重要伝統的建造物群保存地区) in 1994.

The steep rafter roofs are called “Gassho-dukuri” as known in Shirakawa-go and Gokayama, the World Heritage site.  “The Gassho-zukuri, ‘prayer-hands construction’ style is characterized by the thatched and steeply slanting roof resembling two hand joined in prayer.  The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allow the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region’s heavy snowfalls in winter.”  Miyama-cho is buried in the snow in winter.

A pair of kites (鳶) were taking the roof top as their vantage point.  Don't they look like ornamental tile "shibi"?   "Shibi" is a mythological bird believed to bring in rain  and drive away the evil spirits and is set on the both ends of top roofridge as a charm to protect the wooden structure from the fires.  Interestingly it is written with the Chinese Characters as 鳶尾　meaning "kite and tail". 

recently rethatched roofs

Maintenance of the roofs is a hard thing.  “Kaya” means all the grass reeds which are used for thatching like pampas grasses, sedges, and the likes.  Thatched roofs must be re-thatched regularly, once in five to ten years,  and the process is very time-consuming.   Reeds, which are harvested from autumn to winter, must be dried till next April and then are used for thatching.  Recently the durability of the thatched roofs has gotten much shorter due to weaker material grasses caused by the multiple reasons like polluted rain, change of soil, weather change, and so on.  And besides,  there are few experienced thatchers.  A new worker requires several years of practice before he can create a long-lasting, waterproof roofs. The local government has been subsidizing the costs of re-thatching the roofs.   Average cost is six million yen equivalent to about 45,000 US dollars at the latest exchange rate.

old thickly moss-covered roof

Another big problem about this hamlet is that this is a "semi marginal hamlet (準限界集落)", a rarely viable community due to aging and depopulation.  "Marginal hamlet" is the one of which 50% of the population is aged over 65.  People worried about the hamlet on the verge of extinction in the near future stood up and worked hard together to make it a viable community.  After the resignation as an Important Traditional Architectural Preservation Area in 1994,  public attention changed the elderly residents' sentiments.  They came to have more attachments to their old houses and got more pride and confidence in their environment which could make people feel at ease.  They have made efforts to keep the village paths and their houses in good shape and open, not overly so but reasonably, for the tourists.

The red color of the Pyracantha fruits is eye-catching in the muted colored landscape.

A few of persimmons are left for birds.



むらさきほおずき/purple Chinese lantern plant



The houses stand in peace and harmony with the surrounding nature.  Seeing from many tourist walking into the area and large buses parking on the opposite side of the road, I suspected that residents' lives were not so peaceful as they used to be, but they seem to live quite positively about the tourism.  Probably more well-behaved tourists or people who move into this place could sustain this picturesque hamlet.

colored leaves seen through Kitayama cedars

After leaving Kitamura, my husband and I drove along the Yura River and had a late homemade lunch overlooking the stream.  It takes about three and a half hours by car from our house in Nara City, so we made an early start at 7:00 a.m.

One day trip is possible from Kyoto City, but how about an overnight trip to taste well the place where spring is heralded by budding Japanese parsley, summer by the flicker of fireflies, autumn by colored leaves, and winter by a blanket of white snow?  Tourists will enjoy hiking in the Ashiu Forest or along the river, kayaking on the river, or camping.  As seasonal delicacies, there are "tsumikusa ryori" (wild young vegetables) for spring, sweet fish for summer, matsutake mushroom for autumn, and "botan nabe" (wild boar meat stew) for winter.

Source of information: ちいきのきずな - かやぶきの里

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