Gifu City岐阜市

A castle town which prospered at the foot of Mt. Kinka-zan. Watch cormorant fishing on the clear water of Nagara-gawa River.

Gifu is situated in the northern part of the Nobi Plains in the southern part of Gifu Prefecture. During the Kamakura Period in the 13th century, Gifu prospered as the castle town of Gifu Castle built on the peak of Mt. Kinka-zan. The current donjon of Gifu Castle was rebuilt in the mid-20th century.

Gifu-koen Park, situated at the foot of Mt. Kinka-zan, has a three-storied pagoda, the Nawa Insect Museum, and a landing stop for the Mt. Kinka-zan Ropeway on its approximately 200,000-square-meter compound. A spring Shinto ritual held at Tejikarao-jinja Shrine, the Tejikarao Fire Festival, is a grand fire festival, as the name suggests, and portable shrines dance boisterously in the air amidst a rain of falling sparks.

From spring to fall, at the Nagara-gawa River running at the foot of Mt. Kinka-zan, cormorant fishing 'ukai' takes place. Ukai is a way of catching Japanese river trout with tamed cormorants that has been practiced since the 8th century. At night, cormorant fishers, wearing special "Kazaore Eboshi" hats and grass skirts, line up their boats side-by-side and catch river trout by torchlight. You can watch the whole process closely aboard a tour boat. In summer, the Nagara-gawa River Fireworks, which boasts the largest number of fireworks in the country, is held and attracts many visitors.