The cultural property consists of three historic mountain villages over an area of 68 hectares (170 acres) in the remote Shogawa river valley, stretching across the border of Gifu and Toyama Prefectures in central Japan.

The Gokayama (五箇山, "Five Mountains") area is divided between the former villages of Kamitaira and Taira in Nanto, Toyama Prefecture.

The valley is in a mountain region with considerable snowfall, and these villages are well known for their clusters of farmhouses, constructed in the architectural style known as gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り), which are designed to easily shed snow from their steep roofs.

As a result of this steep terrain, the majority of villages in this area are situated in the narrow strips of land along the valley bottom.

In the 8th century, the Shirakawa-gō and Gokayama area became a location for ascetic religious practices, and mountain worship centred on Mt Hakusan.

[1]: 46 Nowadays all three villages within the world heritage site belong to the modern-day administrative organisation of the Mura system.

[1]: 46 The area's mountainous terrain and paucity of flat land offered little opportunity for the traditional cultivation of rice.

The marketable products coming from the area were Japanese paper (washi), nitre for gunpowder manufacture, and sericulture (silkworm farming).

[1]: 46–47 The Gasshō-style house ("prayer-hands construction" style) is characterized by a steeply slanting thatched roof, resembling two hands joined in prayer.

[2] The design is exceptionally strong and, in combination with the unique properties of the thatching, allows the houses to withstand and shed the weight of the region's heavy snowfalls in winter.

This confident style of house construction is unique within Japan, and nowhere else within the country is roof space typically utilized, except for passive storage, and not in a two, three, or four-story manner, as is seen here.

In recent years, depopulation, the decline of primary industries, and the aging of the population have made it difficult to maintain ties.

On the other hand, the National Trust and volunteers from the general public have begun to gather from various parts of the country and work together to re-thatch the roofs.

In Shirakawa-go, the organization that performs the tethering is called "koryaku," and the scope of the tethering is not limited to re-thatching roofs, but extends to all aspects of daily life, including thatching, rice planting, rice harvesting, weeding, chopping firewood, weddings, funerals, and ceremonial occasions.

[1] The Committee decided to inscribe the site under criteria (iv) and (v) as the villages are outstanding examples of a traditional human settlement that is perfectly adapted to its environment.

The Committee noted the successful adaptation to economic changes and that survival can only be assured through constant vigilance on both sides, the Government authorities and the inhabitants.Around the time of its formal inscription as a World Heritage Site (August 1994), Ogimachi contained 152 households and had a population of 634 people.

Those houses built on steep ground near the base of the mountains are situated on small terraces, supported by stone walls.

All the ridges of these Gassho-style houses are aligned parallel to the Shō River, thus creating a unified and attractive village scene.

An old narrow road runs northeast to southwest through the village centre, eventually becoming the main mountain access route that was constructed in 1887.

[1]: 43  This required preservation plans to be prepared to ensure the protection from damage and restriction on activities which could destroy either the properties themselves or alter the existing landscape.

[7] Each owner is directly responsible for the management and repair of their property, although this is supervised to ensure they use traditional methods and materials and followed the agreed preservation plans.