Gifu Hidden Gems
Mountain Japan at its most photogenic — thatched farmhouses, a preserved Edo townscape in Takayama, and river towns still fishing with cormorants.
7 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
Naegi Castle Ruins
Naegi was built on a granite outcrop above the Kiso river, and rather than clear the boulders the builders stacked their…
Tokuyama Dam
Tokuyama holds 660 million cubic metres of water, the largest reservoir capacity of any dam in Japan — roughly twice the…
Tsukechi Gorge
The Tsukechi river runs off the Kiso mountains over a granite bed, and where it cuts through the gorge the water is a gr…
Kamigare Tea Terraces
Kasuga, in the mountains of western Gifu, has grown tea since the sixteenth century, and at Kamigare the fields climb a…
Hirayu Great Falls
Hirayu Otaki drops 64 metres in a single fall on the edge of the Okuhida hot spring villages, one of Japan's hundred wat…
Monet's Pond
A small unnamed pond beside Nemichi Shrine in the Itadori valley, fed by spring water clear enough that the koi appear t…
Enakyo Gorge Cruise
Enakyo is the reservoir of the Oi dam, completed in 1924 as the first large concrete dam in Japan, which flooded a stret…