There are 2 settlements in the Gokayama area. One of them, Suganuma, consists of nine kayabuki thatched-roof houses. The other, Aikura, consists of twenty-three houses in the same Gassho style. The former was listed with Shirakawa-go as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995.
　The local Kokiriko-Bushi(Kokiriko Dance), using wooden kokiriko clappers, is said to be the oldest folk song in Japan.
In the Edo Period (1603-1868), the area was called “Etchu-gokayama,” and was a fief dominated by the Kaga Domain, north-west of Hida in present Ishikawa Prefecture. For about 270 years from 1605, nitric acid was produced here and transported to the Kaga Domain.

Location: Nanto City precincts, Toyama Prefecture