Village view

This one looks more picturesque than Shirakawa-go - fewer tour buses, but not for long more than likely.

One amazing thing about Shirakawa-go, and Ainokura too I suppose, is that it still functions as a going community, people going about their daily lives in spite of the hordes of troublesome tourists insisting on photos and views inside 'kawaii o-uchi'.

Plenty of places like this dotted around Japan.  Houses for nothing also.

That's always been my ideal holiday.  A retreat in the mountains in a tiny hidden little village. 

Plenty of places like this dotted around Japan. Houses for nothing also.

So true.  that's why i shake my head in disbelief when people tell me Japan is crowded.  Its not.  There are, like you said, plenty of places like this. 

people going about their daily lives in spite of the hordes of troublesome tourists insisting on photos and views inside 'kawaii o-uchi'

I can't blame you for thinking like that.  I hate places that are too touristy, and it is one of the reasons I never went to Shirakawa go.  Too touristy.  The whole point of the escape is to get away from the hordes of people.  The village looks beautiful though.  Definitely worth a go.

zichi, your experience of winter in the Alps reminds me of a year I spent in Hokkaido. A friend and I rented an old fisherman's shack right on the sea for dirt cheap. We only heated two rooms at night by kerosene. Any liquids in the fridge were frozen by morning. If you left wet clothes to hang in a room without a heater they felt like cardboard. And we had a hole the floor toilet too. Though winter was better than summer smell-wise. It was a rustic, charming experience but a year was enough.

This photo is along the lines of what Japan ought to be promoting to increase foreign tourism. The other story about Tokyo making a new logo to get more visitors seems to me an example of people in a government office somewhere coming up with something rather pointless to make it appear as if they've been busy for the past few months. Rural Japan is what I think most people who've never been to the country ought to be targeted with more. Tokyo is obligatory for a couple days on the itinerary of the first-time foreign tourist; they likely flew into Narita and will pass through anyway, but Japan needs to expand beyond Tokyo, Kyoto and the like.

that's why i shake my head in disbelief when people tell me Japan is crowded. Its not...

It is crowed. Those lands are now too small to support such number of families to live in the current average standard of life. There is no way to support so many families in these area.

The population must shrink further to increase land per capita in these area. Those who survive will get all the lands left by deserters. You don't need politics or tax money. It will be a natural process.

It is crowed.

No its not.

Those lands are now too small to support such number of families to live in the current average standard of life. There is no way to support so many families in these area.

You don't have to move to such a small village.  There are plenty of decent places to live without even being too far from tokyo. 

The population must shrink further to increase land per capita in these area.

That is ridiculous.  There is more than enough land for everyone.  More population decline means more people moving to the cities making them more crowded and making the countryside harder to live in.

Those who survive will get all the lands left by deserters.

Really?  Ok.  Here's a website that has all "all the lands left by deserters"

http://haikyo.org/nichitsu-ghost-town/  

Go see if you can convince the government to give it to you.

You don't need politics or tax money. It will be a natural process.

Pipe dream