We actually stumbled upon Suganuma Gassho zukuri Village while driving on our way to the UNESCO World Heritage Shirakawa go Village.

We were driving along the road and saw some of the iconic houses along the road and hastily pulled over to take a look. We missed any signs labeling it and would have missed it if we were any later.

To our surprise, there was a parking lot attendant waiting in front of the small parking lot ready to take our 500 yen. We were sort of committed to visiting as soon as we pulled off the road.

Anyways, we got out and after visiting the restrooms, we walked to a specially made elevator that took us down to the ground level. This elevator was obviously added to accommodate tourists and was dug into the rock. The precipitation was intense  and there were water droplets all over the elevator. It was wet and damp and I couldn’t help but wonder if they made sure all the cables and equipment were made waterproof for the long haul.