Abstract
In the historic villages of Shirakawa-mura, most of the gassho-style houses are on individual lots separated by cultivated plots of land, refecting traditional land use. They are aligned parallel to the Sho River, giving a very harmonious and impressive landscape. It has been explained that the protection against the strong-wind along the Sho River and the necessity to maintain weak-wind throughout the gassho-style roofs for the improvement of silkworm and cocoon caused this characteristic village form. However, these points have never been shown in engineering analysis nor in quantitative survey. In this study, the weak-wind environment through the gassho-style houses in some area of the village at the end of the Meiji period is indicated in comparison with the current one using CFD analysis.
