SHIRAKAWA, Gifu Prefecture--Villagers in this renowned UNESCO World Heritage site came together to re-thatch the roof of a multitiered house here for the first time in five years on May 13.

Located in the mountains of Gifu Prefecture, Shirakawa-go is a village full of old-fashioned houses with thatched roofs - and a registered World Heritage Site. The roofs are steeply slanted ...

Ogimachi, a hamlet that bears witness to Japanese rural life of ages past Ogimachi, a hamlet in Shirakawa-go with some sixty gasshō-zukuri houses, most of which date back to the 19 th century ...

Shirakawa-go in Gifu Prefecture is one of Japan's snowiest regions. It's famous for its traditional thatched-roof Gassho-style homes. The triangular roofs distribute the weight of heavy snow ...

U.S. pending home sales index rises ... Japan's upper house of Parliament Wednesday approved Masaaki Shirakawa as the next governor of the central bank, ending three weeks of political wrangling.