白川郷
Shirakawa-gōしらかわごう
the white river — and the volcano that whitens it
- 白shira — white
- 川kawa — river
- 郷gō — rural district (names the area, not the origin)
The name means 'white river'. The water of the Shogawa often runs pale, and the reason is upstream: mineral hot springs rising beneath the volcano Hakusan feed one of its tributaries. The name is a description.
Shirakawa means white river, and it has meant that around the Shogawa gorge for centuries. The water is often pale — not from anything in the village, but from further up: mineral hot springs rising beneath the volcano Hakusan drain into one of the river's tributaries. That account rests on a single government source — a tourism explainer, not a study of place names — and no competing reading has been ruled out; the mountain itself carries the same character for white. Most place names in this collection describe something that is no longer there. This one describes something you can still see in the water.
Modern proof
Nothing here was buried or built over. The river still runs, and still runs pale — the proof of the name is the water itself.
sourceThe Shogawa can run visibly pale where mineral water from the Hakusan range enters it. The gassho-style houses stand in this river's valley, in a municipality that is 96% forested mountain.