Japanese Edo Village | Shirakawa-go and Nakasendo Inspired

Description

This village is a true to life build that has been highly inspired by Shirakawa-go and the Nakasendo trail. The houses are in the style of Gassho-zukuri (合掌造り), which are found in Shirakawa-go. They feature very tall thatched roofs and are mainly built out of wood. There are few Machiya (町家) around in the form of shops or other buildings of public interest, the most notable of which being the Hatago (旅籠). A Hatago is a lodging for travellers often found in the Edo period, here it is the heart of everything.

The Nakasendo trail heavily inspired this village also, mainly through its geography and history. The village is situated within a large valley, through which travellers and merchants may have often passed through. The main road acts as the spine of the village and everything else is connected to it. I have tried to look at all the small details and envision what it would be like to really live here in the Edo period, so around the village you will find loads of workstations, pottery, clothes being washed and dried, benches, hand carts and more. Each house is unique and so are all the things surrounding it. Research has been put into figuring out how they would carry out day to day activities, a good example is the way they would dry certain clothes through the Shinshibari (伸子張り) technique. This technique prevented wrinkles and folds, you will find several places throughout the village where this is being used.

The village also features a Shinto shrine overlooking it, starting at the base, to reach the shrine you walk through a Torii Gate (鳥居) and along the way you will find several Tōrō (灯籠) lanterns. The shrine layout has been carefully thought of within the context of the village, given that it is not a big town or very rich, it has been kept relatively simple. As you reach the top you will find a Temizuya (手水舎) and right behind it the Honden (本殿).

With all of that being said, a free resourcepack is also provided to help with this build, it is not 100% essential but it improves a lot. It changes the white stained glass to look more like Japanese Shoji but transparent. Also changes the birch trapdoor to look like a solid version of Shoji and the hay to fit the thatch roof aesthetic.



I hope you all enjoy! Any feedback will be highly appreciated and if anybody has a good name for the village I'm all ears!

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