Sustainable Life in the Deep Mountains
石川県白山市、白峰。
白山の麓にあるこの小さな山村は、コンビニもなく、いつでも欲しいものが手に入る場所ではありません。人々は、知恵と技を育みながら白山と共に暮らしています。山を歩き、食を味わい、豪雪とたくましく遊び、古民家宿で休み、そこに暮らす人々と話す。そうした時間の中で、「人間らしさ」や、「自分と自然とのつながり」を感じる方もいるかもしれません。
「山があるから、生きている」人々の心に根付いてきた、日本の山村の生き方が、ここにあります。
Sustainable Life in the Deep Mountains
At Shiramine, a village nestled at the foot of Mount Hakusan, a traditional lifestyle known as "Dezukuri" has been passed down for generations. Families once built simple huts deep in the mountains, where they lived while practicing small-scale, family-run slash-and-burn cultivation and charcoal making. Close to nature’s gifts—and its harsh realities—mountain people learned to value limited resources and to live in a way that ensured these blessings could be handed down to future generations.
In winter, when heavy snow blankets the mountains, the forests transform into a vast white landscape. Wearing traditional kanjiki snowshoes, people could walk great distances across the snow. Hares and bears served as important sources of food during these cold months. With the arrival of spring, melting snow brought abundant water that nourished the forest, char fish, mountain vegetables, and local crops.
Shiramine is also a community deeply rooted in Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism. From November into the winter season, residents observe Ho-onko, a memorial service honoring Shinran Shonin, the sect’s founder. The meals served during this time feature carefully preserved mountain ingredients gathered from spring to autumn, as well as lovingly grown local produce. Each dish reflects gratitude for the blessings of Mount Hakusan and for the bonds shared among family and neighbors.
“Because the mountains are here, we can live.”
Long before the word “sustainability” became widely known, this way of thinking shaped everyday life in the rural mountain communities. Here in Shiramine, you can experience firsthand a lifestyle that continues to embody this timeless relationship between people and nature.
Sustainable Life in the Deep Mountains
At Shiramine, a village nestled at the foot of Mount Hakusan, a traditional lifestyle known as "Dezukuri" has been passed down for generations. Families once built simple huts deep in the mountains, where they lived while practicing small-scale, family-run slash-and-burn cultivation and charcoal making. Close to nature’s gifts—and its harsh realities—mountain people learned to value limited resources and to live in a way that ensured these blessings could be handed down to future generations.
In winter, when heavy snow blankets the mountains, the forests transform into a vast white landscape. Wearing traditional kanjiki snowshoes, people could walk great distances across the snow. Hares and bears served as important sources of food during these cold months. With the arrival of spring, melting snow brought abundant water that nourished the forest, char fish, mountain vegetables, and local crops.
Shiramine is also a community deeply rooted in Jōdo Shinshū Buddhism. From November into the winter season, residents observe Ho-onko, a memorial service honoring Shinran Shonin, the sect’s founder. The meals served during this time feature carefully preserved mountain ingredients gathered from spring to autumn, as well as lovingly grown local produce. Each dish reflects gratitude for the blessings of Mount Hakusan and for the bonds shared among family and neighbors.
“Because the mountains are here, we can live.”
Long before the word “sustainability” became widely known, this way of thinking shaped everyday life in the rural mountain communities. Here in Shiramine, you can experience firsthand a lifestyle that continues to embody this timeless relationship between people and nature.
About Hakusan Shiramine Nature School
The NPO Shiramine Nature School is a guide organization operating in the Shiramine region at the foot of Mt. Hakusan, one of the three sacred mountains of Japan. We provide guided nature tours for individuals, groups, and schools, such as hiking Mt. Hakusan, and experience guided tours of the Shiramine Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings.
We are targeting a wide range of age groups, from children to the elderly, and will deliver moving experiences by teaching local guides how to enjoy nature and experience history and culture in a way that only a guide who grew up in the area can convey. We also respond to customer requests by providing programs such as nature and cultural experience activities in the Shiramine area and supporting nature activities.