Reply To: Getting to Shirakawa-go in a Wheelchair
Josh, if you *can* get to Shirakawa-go or Ainokura without breaking the bank (!) I can thoroughly recommend both.
Shirakawa-go certainly is well worth a visit even if you cannot get into some of the buildings. There’s a reasonably well-pathed circuit you can take that uses a bridge to cross the river to the other side of the valley and the village.
Maybe worth calling the local tourism office to see if they can advise on an accessible service or even just ask if they can put you in touch with someone willing to assist you with a suitable vehicle and you can offer to pay them for their trouble?
In physical size Ainokura is tiny in comparison with Shirakawa-go – only 22 homes – most of which are working farms. A couple are open as minshuku though. I shot this video in the village at dusk in winter a few years back when we stayed there:
https://www.therealjapan.com/walking-around-ainokura-village-gokayama/
