How to Reserve a Parking Space at Shirakawago During the 2026 Light-Up Event

Post date: 2025-09-10 | Categories: Japan Travel

To control the number of vehicles entering Shirakawago during the Shirakawago Light-Up event, reduce traffic congestion, and prevent traffic accidents, the Shirakawago Tourism Association implements traffic control measures every year during the light-up event. During the Shirakawago light-up event, only vehicles with a pre-booked parking space are permitted to enter and park in the designated Shirakawago parking lots. This article will introduce the method for reserving a parking space at the Shirakawago Gassho Village parking lots during the 2026 light-up period, serving as a supplementary article to the comprehensive guide: “Complete Guide to the Shirakawago Light-Up: Dates, Transportation, Tickets, Accommodation, and Itinerary Planning“.

Before 2019, there were no restrictions on external vehicles during the Shirakawago light-up event. Parking spaces were available on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning you could park as long as there was space. However, due to the increasing number of people driving to the event, causing severe traffic congestion, the Shirakawago Tourism Association began regulating vehicles entering Shirakawago during the light-up period from 2019 onwards. Vehicles must obtain a parking permit in advance (reserve a parking space) to park in the designated Shirakawago parking lots during the light-up period.

Note: Vehicles without a parking reservation for the specific light-up day are only allowed to enter the parking lot before 15:00 and must depart by 17:00. Parking or picking up/dropping off passengers is prohibited anywhere outside the designated parking lots.

Note: During the light-up period, self-driving tourists cannot go up to the Tenshukaku Observatory. If you wish to view the Shirakawago light-up from the Tenshukaku Observatory, you must either stay overnight in Shirakawago or join a Shirakawago light-up bus tour that includes admission to the Tenshukaku Observatory. For details, please refer to the relevant section in the comprehensive guide: “Complete Guide to the Shirakawago Light-Up: Dates, Transportation, Tickets, Accommodation, and Itinerary Planning“.

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How to Reserve a Parking Space at Shirakawago During the 2026 Light-Up Period

In recent years, the reservation method for Shirakawago parking during the light-up period has changed frequently, with different systems each year. However, since 2023, the method seems to have stabilized. The reservation method for parking spaces at Shirakawago Gassho Village during the 2026 light-up period will be the same as in previous years, handled directly by the Shirakawago Tourism Association using the accommodation reservation system on their website. This article will detail the reservation process.

The Shirakawago parking lots accepting reservations only allow vehicles with 10 seats or fewer. Therefore, each vehicle can have a maximum of 10 people, including the driver. To enhance crowd control during the light-up event, an admission ticket system was further introduced starting from 2024. This system will continue in 2026. Every visitor entering Shirakawago during the light-up period must hold an admission ticket issued by the Shirakawago Tourism Association. Thus, when reserving a parking space, you must specify the number of people. Upon entering the parking lot, each person in the vehicle will receive one Shirakawago admission ticket.

1. Parking Lot Locations

Shirakawago has three main parking lots:

Seseragi Park Parking [Map Code:549 018 350], located across the river from Shirakawa Street, next to the Gassho Zukuri Minkaen (Open-Air Museum);
Midashima Park Parking [Map Code:549 018 085], located south of Shirakawa Street, about 500 meters from the Shirakawago Information Office; and
Terao Parking [Map Code:549 018 864], located across the river from Shirakawa Street.

Among these three parking lots, “Seseragi Park Parking” and “Midashima Park Parking” are closer to Shirakawago village and allow walking access. “Terao Parking” is located further away.

The map below shows the locations of these three parking lots.

The image below shows the locations of Seseragi Park Parking and Midashima Park Parking on Google Street View.

“Seseragi Park Parking” is the main parking lot in Shirakawago. Private cars visiting Shirakawago during the daytime typically park here. However, during the light-up event, “Seseragi Park Parking” is reserved only for buses and coaches. Private cars must depart by 17:00.

The image below shows the entrance to Seseragi Park Parking.

The images below show Seseragi Park Parking during the 2018 Shirakawago Light-Up.

“Midashima Park Parking” and “Terao Parking” are the designated parking lots open to private vehicles during the light-up period. Typically, only one of these two lots is opened, though this has varied over the past few years, sometimes using “Midashima Park Parking” and other times “Terao Parking”.

For the 2026 Shirakawago Light-Up period, the parking lot open to private vehicles will be “Midashima Park Parking”. “Midashima Park Parking” has a smaller capacity, accommodating only 120 vehicles, which is significantly fewer than the 420 spaces at “Terao Parking”. Therefore, parking space availability during the 2026 light-up period will be more limited.

Midashima Park Parking (Online Photo)

2. Reservation Method, Quota, Fees, and Start Time

Reservations for parking spaces at Shirakawago during the 2026 light-up period will continue to be on a first-come, first-served basis. Each vehicle can have a maximum of 10 passengers (including the driver). The number of people must be specified during the reservation process, and each person will receive one Shirakawago admission ticket upon entry. The parking fee is tiered based on the number of people: 1-5 persons and 6-10 persons. The parking fee for 2026 has been increased by 1,000 JPY compared to 2025.

Parking spaces for the 2026 light-up days will be available for reservation in two rounds, until full capacity is reached. The parking fee for the first round is 1,000 JPY cheaper than the second round. The parking fee must be paid at the time of reservation and is non-refundable.

	Reservation Start Time (Japan Time)	Fee (1~5 persons)	Fee (6~10 persons)
First Round	September 10, 2025, 13:00	6,000 JPY	9,000 JPY
Second Round	December 1, 2025, 13:00	7,000 JPY	10,000 JPY

If the number of people set during reservation is 1-5, but the actual number on the day exceeds 5, an additional 4,000 JPY must be paid. For details regarding parking reservations during the 2026 Shirakawago light-up period, please refer to this announcement. (Note: The link above is for the first-round reservation announcement webpage. The URL for the second-round announcement might differ. Please check the Shirakawago Tourism Association announcements page for the latest notice before the second-round reservation period begins.)

Due to the limited number of spaces, this year’s first-round reservations were fully booked within 10 minutes of opening.

3. Reservation Method

As in previous years, reservations for parking spaces at Shirakawago during the 2026 light-up period will be made using the accommodation reservation system on the Shirakawago Tourism Association website. The reservation process is as follows: (Note: Steps 1-3 below use screenshots from the current year, while Steps 4-5 use screenshots from 2023.)

[1] After accessing the Shirakawago Light-Up Parking Reservation Announcement page on the Shirakawago Tourism Association website, click on the light-up date for which you want to reserve a parking space at the bottom of the page. (Note: The link above is for the first-round reservation announcement webpage. The URL for the second-round announcement might differ. Please check the Shirakawago Tourism Association announcements page for the latest notice before the second-round reservation period begins.)

Shirakawago Light-Up Parking Reservation Step 1

[2] You will enter the light-up event parking reservation page. This page will show the date you are reserving for and the fee, along with some parking regulations, including the entry time (チェックイン) [earliest entry is at 15:00] and exit time (チェックアウト) [must depart by 20:00]. Click on the link on the amount within the red box in the image below to proceed to the official reservation page.

Shirakawago Light-Up Parking Reservation Step 2

Note: The reservation system for Shirakawago parking during the light-up period actually uses the民宿 (Minshuku – guesthouse) accommodation reservation system within the Shirakawago Tourism Association website. Therefore, many terms and descriptions on the reservation page are related to accommodation bookings, such as check-in time, check-out time, number of rooms, number of guests, etc.

[3] On the reservation page, fill in the following information:

Estimated arrival time (チェックイン時刻);
Number of male and female passengers (人数);
Applicant’s name (代表者氏名) – Must match the name on your passport, as it might be verified upon entry to the parking lot;
Name pronunciation (読みがな) – You can enter the English phonetic spelling of your name;
Phone number (電話番号) – You can enter a foreign number, using hyphens to separate segments, e.g., 853-1234-5678;
Postal code for your address (郵便番号) – You can enter 000-0000;
Address (住所) – You can enter a foreign address;
Email address (Eメールアドレス);
A phone number where you can be reached on the day (当日お客様と連絡が取れる電話番号（携帯電話など）をお教えください。) – You can enter a foreign number;
Nationality (国名 Country);
Check the boxes for “イベント代金の払い戻し” (Event fee refund), “注意事項” (Notes), “取引条件の承諾” (Acceptance of terms and conditions), “上記「（一社）白川郷観光協会　利用規約」に同意します。” (I agree to the above terms of use of the Shirakawago Tourism Association), etc., to indicate your understanding and agreement to these terms, including acknowledgment that the parking permit does not include admission to the Tenshukaku Observatory, fees are non-refundable, and agreement to the terms of use.

You can ignore preset items that cannot be modified, such as 泊数 (number of stays) and 部屋数 (number of rooms). Also, ignore the member login section. After filling in the above information, click the 「確認画面へ」 (To Confirmation Screen) button.

Shirakawago Light-Up Parking Reservation Step 3

[4] Check that the reservation details are correct, then click the 「次へ」 (Next) button. (Note: Due to the time taken to capture screenshots, clicking “確認画面へ” in the previous step resulted in being unable to proceed to subsequent steps because the spaces were already fully booked. Therefore, Steps 4-5 below use screenshots from the 2023 process.)

Shirakawago Light-Up Parking Reservation Step 4

[5] Enter your credit card details, then click the 「お申し込み内容確認」 (Confirm Application Details) button to proceed with payment.

After payment is completed, the organizer will send you an email between late December and early January. This email will contain a parking permit. Show this permit to the staff when entering the Shirakawago parking lot to gain entry. Additionally, upon entry, staff will distribute one Shirakawago light-up admission ticket to each person in the vehicle.

[More Content]: For detailed information about the Shirakawago Light-Up, please read this article: “Complete Guide to the Shirakawago Light-Up: Dates, Transportation, Tickets, Accommodation, and Itinerary Planning“.