A winter trip to Shirakawa-go is like traveling inside a snow-globe. Designated in 1995 as UNESCO World Heritage Site in Japan, the historic villages of Shirakawa-go and Gokayama are known for their traditional farmhouses in the architectural style of gasshō-zukuri (合掌造り), meaning “praying hands” referring to the likeness of the steep thatched roof shape to Buddhist monks…