Gifu Hidden Gems
Mountain Japan at its most photogenic — thatched farmhouses, a preserved Edo townscape in Takayama, and river towns still fishing with cormorants.
5 spots
Climate & Best Season
Hida in the north is cold and snowy; the southern plain is hot and humid. April–May and October–November are ideal.
Famous For (Food)
- Hida beef
- Ayu (sweetfish)
- Keichan
- Gohei-mochi
Signature Sights
- Shirakawa-go (UNESCO)
- Takayama old town
- Gero Onsen
- Gujo Hachiman
Site of Reversible Destiny Yoro
Arakawa Shusaku and Madeline Gins spent their careers arguing that architecture had made human beings too comfortable an…
Basho Memorial Museum Ogaki
Ogaki is where Oku no Hosomichi ends. Basho arrived here in 1689 after around 2,400 kilometres and five months on the ro…
Mosaic Tile Museum Tajimi
Kasahara in Tajimi makes more mosaic tile than anywhere else in Japan, and in 2016 the town gave itself a museum for it.…
Gifu Sekigahara Battlefield Memorial Museum
On 21 October 1600, around 160,000 men fought in this basin in a single day and the outcome decided who would rule Japan…
Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum
Kakamigahara has been Japan's aircraft town since 1917, when the army put its airfield here, and Kawasaki has built aero…