The Kanda House in Shirakawa-go is a gassho-zukuri house built in the late Edo period and is said to have been completed by a shrine carpenter from Ishikawa Prefecture over a period of about 10 years. The building dates back to the time when Yaemon Wada, a branch of the Wada family who served as village headman in Shirakawa-go, took up residence where the Shinden of the Shirakawa Hachiman Shrine was located and changed his family name to Kanda. The interior is a four-story structure. On the first floor is a large “oe” hall with a sunken hearth, which was used as a living room, guest room, and place for farm work. The second and third floors were used as a sericultural workshop, and today, folk tools and sericultural implements are on display. The top floor, the fourth floor, is used as a storeroom, and a view of the outside can be seen through a smoke-removed window. Visitors can also see under the floor where gunpowder was made, and learn about the lifestyle and industry of the time. In this way, the Kanda House is a valuable presence that conveys the traditional architectural style and lifestyle culture of Shirakawa-go to the present day. By visiting the house, you will be able to deeply feel the wisdom and lifestyle of the people of that time.