Airbnb’s newest venture is in Japan’s most hidden village

It’s well and truly God’s country out here, but with some humility, concerted searching and a bit of luck, you’re welcome in it — a point illustrated by Suganuma Gassho-Zukuri Shuraku and its charming hamlet of nine traditional thatched-roof houses nestled within the curve of an oxbow along the meandering Sho River.
 
Originally built between the 17th and 20th centuries, the houses boast steep, inverted V-shaped roofs of thatch piled in dozens upon dozens of layers, a traditional architecture style known as gasshō-zukuri. Aside from its beauty, this peculiar construction helps houses withstand the heavy snow of the Hokuriku region’s harsh winters — when heated from within by a central, open irori (sunken hearth), the rising air both prevents mold growth on the thatched roofs and encourages heavy snowfall, that would otherwise damage the structure, to slide harmlessly off the steep eaves.